Ahmad Omer Tofiq – Activists
The sixth round of Iraq’s parliamentary elections is set to take place on November 11, and once again, the Kurdistan Region—with its several ineffective, inexperienced, and unqualified parties and candidates—plans to participate in this process.
On October 21, 2024, it will have been a full year since the last regional elections in Kurdistan, yet in that entire time, no parliament has been formed, and no parliamentarians have done anything meaningful for the Kurdish people.
What kind of conscience allows these parties to ask the Kurdish people for their votes again—when for a whole year they have done nothing but collect salaries without serving the public?
Today, many Kurds only participate in elections because they are party affiliates, relatives of politicians, or expecting small personal favors—while others simply vote out of necessity.
Kurdish parties, as usual, announce a list of grand promises and hollow projects a few months before elections; once the votes are counted, they abandon everything, spending no budget and delivering nothing.
If the Kurdish parties continue to treat “patriotism” this way, they will soon lose all legitimacy—no one will vote for them or support their campaigns. It is time they step back and self-reflect—to work for their people, not just their power.
They must accept criticism for their corruption, for violating the principles of party ethics, and for the absence of the rule of law.
The current situation is dangerous. The parties are only motivated by electoral opportunism and false promises, not by public service.
These elections are not the first for Iraq or Kurdistan, but as long as the people keep believing the same empty slogans, nothing will change.
Every past election campaign has been aimed solely at preserving power, not at improving the lives of the people.
Poverty, unpaid salaries, disillusionment, and systematic election fraud have made today’s electoral process hollow and illegitimate—a process destined to fail and collapse under its own weight.
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