July 27th, 2009 by Max

Rod Norland of the New York Times identifies the upcoming October 24 census in Kirkuk as a pivotal moment for post-war Iraqi unity.  The census will determine how much power Kirkuk has in future national governments.  Several ethnic groups, including Kurds, Arabs and minority Turkmen, claim a plurality of the city’s population. Though a referendum on Kirkuk’s status is considered to be required, a census must be performed first to identify eligible voters–a census that Arabs and Turkmen are already threatening to boycott.

It is perhaps ironic that, as Norland notes, that the situation is beginning to mirror Lebanon’s seemingly permanent electoral crisis. As the simplest solution may be to ‘just do nothing’. The last Lebanese census was in 1932.  Kirkuk’s last census, though more recent, still took place 52 years ago, in 1957.

Posted in Iraq, Kurds |