The Political System in Iraqi Kurdistan: Party Rivalries and Future Perspectives

Abdullah, Farhad Hassan

doi:10.1080/03068374.2018.1521120

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Iraqi Kurdistan in this period launched its first democratic experiment of an election on May 19, 1992. The first electoral law was prepared by the leadership of the Kurdish Front, which considered the three provinces of the Kurdistan Region (Erbil, Sulaimaniyah, and Duhok) as a single electoral circle, and set the numbers of the seats in Parliament at 105, five dedicated to the Christian minority; the Turkmen ethnic minority refused to be a part of the process (Abdullah, 2018). The first Kurdish parliamentary election was based on the electoral system of closed party lists in singledistrict constituencies.…”

Section: The Party System and Electoral Rules In The Kurdistan Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus a country's political system, political parties, electoral rules, and legal structures have a significant impact on levels and scopes of corruption (Charron, 2010). The Kurdistan Region has not adopted a clear or fixed political system: from 2005 to 2020 a kind of combination of presidential and parliamentary systems has existed, reflective of a partisan division over the nature of and interests behind any specific system, which might be adopted (Abdullah, 2018). Therefore, the Region's political system has depended on the political agreement between the major political parties, mainly the KDP and PUK and the smaller Gorran (Movement for Change) and Islamist parties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Party corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Context and implications

Mamshai

2022

Digest Mid East Studies

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Party corruption is not only a problem in developing democracies but also in developed ones. Since its establishment in 1991, corruption among political parties has been a key feature of Kurdish governance in the Kurdistan Region. This corruption can be categorized into two periods, the first from 1991 to 2003, and the second from 2005 to the present, mainly among the ruling parties the KDP and the PUK. These two parties have ruled the region for nearly three decades, each with its geographic hegemonic zone; since 2005 they have ruled the region jointly, therefore sharing the responsibility for the mismanagement and corruption in KRG institutions. This article argues that the system of a dominant party (or parties) within a weak multiparty system, which in Kurdistan the KDP and (to an extent until 2009) the PUK have controlled, is responsible for increasing the scope of corruption. It also argues that the dominant party has utilized the electoral system, particularly the closed party list and recently semi-open party list, within a single electoral cycle to secure governmental positions for its own officials for a prolonged time and thus escape the electorate's control.

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Section: The Party System and Electoral Rules In The Kurdistan Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Party corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Context and implications

Mamshai

2022

Digest Mid East Studies

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“…In contrast, the PUK was not based around family, especially during Jalal Talabani’s reign. However, following his withdrawal and then death, Talabani’s family has attempted to control the PUK (Abdullah, 2018).…”

Section: Why Is the Kdp More Organized And Consistent Compared To The Puk?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factionalism Within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

Hama

2019

Journal of Asian and African Studies

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Institutional conflicts within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have existed ever since the party’s founding in 1975 as a result of a merger of three different factions. The conflicts were successfully managed in a way that did not hurt the party’s overall functioning until the Gorran movement, led by Nawshirwan Mustafa, split off in 2009. However, it was the withdrawal of party leader Jalal Talabani from political and public life due to a stroke suffered in 2012 that most damaged the party’s ability to function, and widened factional cracks within the organization. The absence of Talabani led to the emergence of intense competition between various groups within the PUK for influence and positions. Consequently, PUK policies on a number of important issues in Iraqi Kurdistan have been indecisive and weak since approximately 2013. This research will discuss the PUK’s inconsistent policies and their negative implications for the Kurdistan Region. Furthermore, it will argue that the PUK’s internal conflicts emboldened its rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, between the years 2014 and 2018.

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“…The KDP is a party based on rural, family tribalism and dominated by the Barzani family. Historically, the PUK was less family-centered, particularly during the leadership of Jalal Talabani, but following his death the PUK has become increasingly controlled by his children (Abdullah, 2018a). The power-sharing arrangement between the KDP and the PUK has been synonymous with corruption, a lack of legitimate and effective institutions, and the politicization of the Kurdistan Region’s institutional governance and economy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rise and fall of movement for change in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (2009–2018)

Hama

2020

Asian Journal of Comparative Politics

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The Change Movement, also known in Kurdish as Gorran, was founded in 2009 to address the political demands of some parts of the public in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) for political and economic reform. Corruption, lack of transparency in government and financial affairs revenue and expenditure, the lack of legitimate and effective institutions, the existence of political party interference in all sectors of society, and the power-sharing agreement between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had all contributed to widespread feelings of discontent among members of the public. Gorran took advantage of these feelings of disenfranchisement to demand a complete change in the political structure that had been built by the KDP and the PUK in the Region. Using this message, Gorran’s first election as an organized party in 2009 saw it become the second biggest political force in the Kurdistan Region and the biggest political party in the PUK’s traditional stronghold in Sulaymaniyah and the Garmian area. This research divides the Gorran Movement’s performance and effectiveness into three primary stages: (1) the opposition stage, which can be described as Gorran’s golden period; (2) the government participation stage after 2013, which can be described as the Movement’s period of weakness; and (3) the post-Nawshirwan Mustafa stage, which can be described as the Gorran Movement’s period of political exhaustion. The central argument of this research is that the Gorran Movement’s fundamental problem is that it became a part of the very structure that it had for many years campaigned against and is no longer a catalyst for reform.

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The Political System in Iraqi Kurdistan: Party Rivalries and Future Perspectives

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Party corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Context and implications

Party corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Context and implications

Factionalism Within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

The rise and fall of movement for change in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (2009–2018)

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