A Statement from the Change List in reference to the tensions and complications of the night of 26/07/2009 in Erbil and Duhok:

It was with great anticipation the people of Kurdistan awaited the day of 25/07/2009 so that they could vote in a free and fair election which would determine the nature of the forthcoming parliament and presidency. We hoped that these elections would take the KRG out of the black list it was placed in after the elections of 2005. However, with great regret after 3pm on the day of the election the governing powers began election rigging in a systematic and widespread manner in the cities and surrounding areas of Erbil and Dohuk with the intention of preempting victory. This undemocratic step completely changed the result of the elections to benefit the governing powers.

On the day of the election at 9pm under the guise of celebrations the KDP, governmental, intelligence, and armed forces, attacked the offices of the Change List in the cities of Erbil and Dohuk. A proportion of them were looted and taken over, whilst the others were fired upon. This was most extreme in the city of Dohuk where KDP forces attacked the homes of Change List supporters (reformists), intimidating and harassing them. This included the residence of a candidate of the Change Gorran List (Abdul Wahid Yasin Saed) who at 4am 27/07/2009 for the safety of his family was forced to leave the city of Dohuk for Suleimaniyah. In addition to these acts in these two cities KNN offices were surrounded by armed forces who proceeded to fire gun-shots at the offices in attempt to intimidate, scare and provoke KNN staff.

Up until the writing of this message, the aforementioned party is ongoing in pressurizing; provoking the Change List and the other opposition groups, and in an attempt create a tense atmosphere and environment of fear in those two governorates.

We place the responsibility of those tensions on the President of the KRG, the government and the interior ministry whose role it is to protect the lives and freedoms of its citizens.

The Change List, through all lawful possible means of dialogue and negotiations has endeavored to maintain a peaceful environment as such we hold responsible the president of the KRG for any possible tensions and troubles which may occur in the region.

In this regard we call upon you to put necessary pressure on the governing powers of Kurdistan to mitigate the tensions that the KDP forces have created, and place the necessary pressure on the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq to exclude the fraudulent votes.

Note: The KDP have committed fraudulent acts in ten different forms, for which we have evidence and have filled official complaints.

The head of the Change List for the parliamentary elections in Kurdistan,
Nawshirwan Mustafa. 27/07/2009 [Translated from Kurdish to English].

From:© 2009, Assyrian International News Agency. http://www.aina.org/news/20090728062638.htm