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Iraqi Kurdish parties court Islamists

Islamic parties in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq represent the swing vote in the region’s stalemated political process.
A woman hails a taxi while standing under Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) logos before Iraq's parliamentary elections in Sulaimaniya April 28, 2014. Picture taken April 28, 2014.        To match IRAQ-ELECTION/KURDS      REUTERS/Jacob Russell (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTR3N0GY

While Iraqi Kurdistan’s fierce 2014 election competition has subsided, power struggles and deal-making between the major parties are likely to continue in the months ahead. Preliminary results for the provincial councils indicate that the secular nationalist parties — the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Gorran movement — have won the majority of seats. Still, Islamic groups have emerged as a swing vote, particularly in contested localities and where traditional party alliances are dissipating. Capturing the Islamic vote may help secular parties temporarily consolidate power, but it also underlines the deeper challenges of institutionalizing a new power-sharing arrangement and managing the Iraqi Kurdistan’s rapid economic development and social changes.

In contrast with other regions where secularist and Islamist political agendas are generally in conflict, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq the secular nationalist parties are courting the Islamic vote. While quelling radical Islamic tendencies, the KDP and PUK have appeased Islamic parties by providing revenues, salaries and political positions to their leaders. Islamic parties such as the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG, Komal) and even the once radicalized Kurdistan Islamic Movement (KIM) are part of the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament and the Kurdistan Alliance in Baghdad.

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