03-03-2010
By Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Dr. Mahmud Osman was born in 1938 in Sulaimaniyah. He became politically active at the age of 18. He completed a degree in Medicine at the University of Baghdad where he received first-class honours. Once he was Mulla Mustafa Barzani’s top lieutenant and personal physician. In 1975 he left the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Barzani to form the Kurdish Socialist Party of Iraq. He was the chief Kurdish negotiator for the Kurdish autonomy agreement brokered with Baghdad in the early 1970s and was part of the Interim Iraq Governing Council created after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The opposition member of Gorran, Mohammed Tofiq blames Osman for talking for 30 years, ‘without doing anything, just talking’. But Osman says he is defending the Kurdish people and his nation. “I’m friendly to all parties and we work together here.” The main slogans of Mahmud Osmans main themes are Unity (Yekbun), Equality (Yeksan) and Kurdiyeti (pan-Kurdism). He thinks that having a Kurdish opposition, might create problems for the Kurds and disunity in Baghdad. “We have to make a new plan, for the Kurdish lists, how to work together as a team.”
No consensus in Iraq
The Kurdish candidate and Iraqi MP says the disputes between Erbil and Baghdad haven’t be solved, because a lack of consensus. “They have complains, we have complaints. There is no real dialogue,” Osman says. According to Osman the biggest failure are the five committees formed to solve the differences between Baghdad and Erbil after November 2008, by the five main leaders in Iraq: Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, two vice-presidents, Iraqi PM and the Kurdish president Massoud Barzani. “Until now they haven’t met. Its one year and a half and the five committees haven’t done anything.”
Baghdad buying time
The always Kurdish nationalistic Osman says the Iraqi PM makes decision with Turkey and Iran, without Kurds knowing about it. They are also waiting until they have a strong position on the oil law. “Baghdad is buying time [with the oil law], with time, they will be in a better position, Kurds would be in weaker position. They are not in a hurry.”
The Iraqi MP wants to convince the Iraqi Arabs of federalism, but they are not convinced. “In the South [of Iraq] they don’t agree with it. The last provincial election showed that. The SCIRI [Shia party] wanted this, but they didn’t support them.” According to Osman the Kurds have been working on federalism for 25 years. “They are new to it [federalism]. It takes time until they understand what federalism is.”
Osman, the terrorist
Next to this, Mahmud Osman is described by the Turks as terrorists, when he was part of the governing council. He even called on Turkey to free the imprisoned PKK-leader Abdullah Ocalan. “I was defending the PKK, nothing else off course.” Osman emotionally says that Kurds from Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey should support each other. “We shouldn’t agree with Iran, Turkey at the expense of other Kurds.”
The politician believes the ruling Kurdish parties are afraid of his statements. “They are afraid that any declaration endangers relations with Turkey and Iran. But they have given up criticizing me.” On Wednesday he posted pictures on his Facebook page, visiting the Zharawa camp with displaced Kurds from the Iranian bombardments to show his sympathies.
Osman is not very hopeful about the new Kurdish opposition group Gorran. “They are a bit different now [from the other parties], but in time they will not be much different.” Mahmud Osman say that’s its because Gorran separated from the ruling parting Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. “There was a party split in two, you cannot expect much differences. They were in the same parties for years. They didn’t do reforms inside the party, how can they do reforms outside of the party?”
People are free
Still he thinks the Change list MP Adnan Osman has to right to speak out his mind and says the media took his declaration out of the context. Osman called security forces under the control of the political Kurdish parties, militias. Afterwards Osman was fiercely criticized by the Kurdish president Massoud Barzani for allegedly calling all the Kurdish Peshmerga (regional guard) as militias. “People are free to say what they want, there is no need to attack him so much and tough. He is an MP and has immunity.”
On Wednesday 3 March Osman visited both the Gorran, KDP and PUK offices in Sangasar in the province of Suleymaniyah. “I have good relations with Gorran and all other parties.” While PUK or KDP candidates wouldn’t want to dare visit offices of the Kurdish opposition, the veteran Kurdish politician doesn’t care much about the political differences, he just wants Kurdish unity (Photo: Mahmud Osman in the bazaar / Facebook)
© Rudaw
