ARBIL: Iraq’s Kurdish politicians, locked in dispute with the Baghdad government, will lack unity for the first time when fighting January’s general election, due to the rise of a new opposition force.

The two biggest Kurdish parties, who have reigned supreme in shaping policy in the autonomous northern region for three decades, have announced the creation of a broad 12-party alliance ranging from Islamists to Communists. But the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by regional President Massud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), headed by national President Jalal Talabani, face competition from the Goran (Change) movement.

The split has fractured the unity that the Kurd parties have presented in all elections since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. In addition, two Islamic parties from the region — Jamaa Islamia and the Islamic Kurdish Union — have presented independent lists for the planned January 18 election. “Our coalition includes all tendencies, from the socialists to the Islamists,” said Fadil Mirani, secretary of the KDP’s political office in Arbil, at the Kurdish coalition’s election launch on Thursday.

“We hoped that all the political factions would join us. We contacted them but they refused,” he added, saying they “respected the choice” of Goran leader Nijirvan Mustapha to break away, but ultimately regretted the move.

The KDP said the Goran’s decision to contest the vote alone weakens the Kurds at a critical moment as they contest with the central government the status of the country’s disputed provinces, including oil-rich Kirkuk.

The regional government in Arbil has also irked Baghdad by signing oil contracts with neighbouring Turkey, and placing Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who fought for freedom against Saddam, in the disputed zones.

Mirani underlined the high stakes of the election run-up by describing it as a period that “requires that we join ranks to confront the enemies of the Kurds, particularly those who want to reduce our power in Baghdad.” As a sign of raised political tension the parties have already traded blows, dishing the dirt on each other in an effort to solidify support.

Several local daily newspapers, close to the KDP and PUK and citing anonymous sources, have said Mustapha has agreed a post-election deal with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, a Shia and arch-foe of Kurdish President Barzani.