Challak Ahmad – Activist
The 33-year rule of the KDP and PUK has been a colossal failure. Yet, because there is no strong, capable opposition to work relentlessly toward removing this authority, their rule has been prolonged — and the people have been left to endure it.
At its core, the PUK is nothing more than an armed militia tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and allied Shia militias in Iraq. As for the KDP, its only real unity with the PUK lies in their mutual corruption — their disputes are only over positions, oil and gas revenues, and expanding influence and power in the Kurdistan Region.
The KDP is not a genuine political party — all key decisions and policies are in the hands of the Barzani family. Party institutions don’t truly decide anything; they have no value or standing except as servants to the Barzanis. Even top officials or members of the Political Bureau cannot have a decisive say in major issues.
The worst type of KDP affiliates are those who disguise themselves as “neutral” — journalists, university professors, or religious clerics — all while working to beautify the ugly face of KDP corruption and serve its political project. Whether they live in Kurdistan or Europe, these people are bought off with money and privileges.
The party itself functions like a school for erasing public awareness. In this system, a person may have the highest academic degree, be a specialist in their field, or hold a top government position — but if they refuse to bow to the will of a Barzani family child, they will be sidelined. We have all witnessed this.
Masoud Barzani ruled the Kurdistan Region for 12 years without achieving any significant political gain.
- He failed to unite the two administrations.
- He failed to unify the Peshmerga into a national force.
- He failed to build a true sense of national and civic unity.
- He failed to create a strong economy for citizens — despite leaving the region with $32 billion in debt.
- He failed to implement Article 140 and return the disputed territories to the Region.
Politically speaking, Masoud Barzani is an illiterate man and the owner of the failed referendum — the very referendum he promised would cost him his head if it failed.
Just days ago, he once again brandished the threat of confrontation with Baghdad, declaring, “We will not accept this — we are not doormen.” Yet right after this speech, Iraq’s Finance Minister, Taif Sami, retaliated by freezing the salaries of Kurdistan’s civil servants — leaving them unpaid for three months.
The PUK and KDP, humiliated and desperate, scrambled to negotiate in every way possible to resolve the crisis Barzani triggered — but to no avail.
A tribal mentality has no place in governance.
Politically, these leaders are naïve and shortsighted. In facing the political and administrative crises they themselves created, they pin their hopes on Baghdad’s collapse. They eagerly spread exaggerated rumors about the downfall of the Iraqi government, clinging to baseless political gossip just to reassure their supporters and keep them from losing hope — so they can survive the crisis themselves.
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