According to the Kamal Mirawdeli, the second-place finisher in Iraqi Kurdistan’s presidential election, Jalal Talabani has begun a purge of Kurdish militia (peshmerga) members suspected of voting for the reform slate or candidates. Talabani had earlier moved to imprison or confiscate the property of journalists who reported critically on corruption within his party. Excerpts from Mirawdeli’s open letter:

This evening an 18 year old girl called Tavga from the Kurdish town of Darbandikhan visited me.
She was unable to speak as she was overwhelmed by emotions and sadness. She was very proud that she as well as her parents had worked voluntarily and voted for me in the Kurdistan region presidential elections. But she was in tears because both her parents who were paid peshmargas of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) had been cruelly and randomly sacked by PUK officials for their support for me. The girl was confused. She said one of her brothers had been martyred in the Kurdish internal war. Two of her family members had disappeared in the Iraqi Anfal operations. Their parents had supported PUK for over 20 years. She did not understand why the Kurdish authorities should wish to starve them because they voted for the people they loved and exercised their democratic rights. Just today four other young people talked to me on phone telling similar stories. Their family members had been sacked or threatened because of voting for me and the Change List.
From the figures released so far over 500,000 Kurdish citizens in Kurdistan region have voted for me to become their loved and legitimate president. But the Kurdish authorities rather than respecting the democratic choice made by their people, have unleashed a campaign of terror and war of starvation against our innocent people. They are trying hard to hunt down people who have voted for me or the Change List and they randomly sack those who are employed by the political parties without giving them any legal rights of appeal, compensation or employment service rights…
I am shocked that this situation has not shocked American and British representatives in Kurdistan region and has not prompted them to take any serious action to stop this barbaric cruelty. I am sure that they are aware of the scale of this gross violation of basic human rights and have been regularly informed about it.

Qubad Talabani, as the Kurdish representative in Washington, should explain the reasons for the crackdown on the press and the firings of soldiers and civil servents for political reasons, and what he and his family members are doing to correct the matter.