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Intro:
Two weeks ago Iraq held its first parliamentary elections in more than a half century. While ballots are still being tallied, it seems the Kurdish slate may emerge with the second largest bloc in the new parliament. In Washington D.C. 2,000 expatriate Iraqi voters showed up at polls during the three day election.
N1: In a crowded shopping center parking lot,(fade in music) a few miles from Washington DC, Kazim Warnzyary and his companions form a small circle with their cars. Their windows down, they blast Kurdish music over their stereos into the suburban expanse. Perhaps across the street some of the voters filing into the Iraqi polling station will hear them. Warnzyary is excited about Kurdish prospects in the election.
AX1 Warnzyary: We're going to talk about this day to our children, because this is children's future, future for them
N2: (Kurdish music)Warnzyary and his friends talk and laugh with one another. They have come out to promote the slate of Kurdish candidates competing for the 275 seats in the new Iraqi parliament. Warnzyary says he is volunteering his time to give Kurds in Iraq the voice they have never had.
AX2 Warnzyary: It used to be crime to say if we were saying we were Kurd in Baghdad, now we have a representative in Baghdad, now we are partner for governor in Iraq
N3: (Kurdish music)Warnzyary and his companions advertise their party on poster board with bright markers. Kurdish slate 130 is a combination of Iraqi Kurdistan's two largest parties. The merger last December was designed to consolidate Kurdish power in the new government.
(fade in polling sound underneath)Across the street from Warnzyary, polling center signs are written in English, Kurdish, and Arabic. They lead voters into the makeshift polls at the Ramada Convention Center. There are approximately 5,000 Kurds living in the DC area. At the polls here they make up a majority of voters. One of them, Ali Shahi, emerged from his voting booth with purple dye on his right index finger, a way to mark those who have already cast their ballots. He says Kurds have good reason to participate in the election.
AX3 Shahi: The Kurds are the ones who suffered the most under Saddam Hussein's tyranny, and this is the opportunity for the Kurds to improve themselves, what else could ask for, a day like this when I can go to the polls and vote freely without oppression. That's why Kurds are turning out in such numbers.
Even before American forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Kurds had more than a decade of experience with democracy. In 1992 the then autonomous Kurdish area held regional parliamentary elections, and mayoral elections in 2000. Michael Amitai of the Washington Kurdish Organization says despite their experience with democracy, some Kurds are skeptical. They don't want to lose the autonomy they've already gained
AX4: when it comes to the hard bargaining with the constitution it clearly the Kurds still have much to lose.
(Kurdish music/conversation)Far from Baghdad Warnzyari and his friends linger in the suburban parking lot. They play their music until the polls close at five pm. All they can do now is wait for the election results.
This is Thomas Grove for Columbia Radio News.