Akam omar mohamad – activists
In Iraq, electricity costs merely 10 dinars per kilowatt. Yet remarkably, the caretaker government of Kurdistan Region has raised prices to between 72 and 350 dinars. This astronomical increase serves no purpose beyond deceiving citizens while filling the pockets of government officials.
According to comprehensive investigations, these rates are exorbitant when compared to the federal government, neighboring countries, and the average income levels in Kurdistan cities. The financial burden imposed by these rates disproportionately affects the majority of citizens, particularly those already marginalized.
To properly understand the true face of these policies and the socioeconomic and political identity of both ruling parties through their decisions and projects, we must confront “Project Illumination” (more accurately described as “Citizen Exploitation”) with several critical questions:
Where is the government suddenly obtaining this 24-hour electricity when it has failed to provide consistent service for 33 years?
Is the government conducting business with the “Illumination” electricity project rather than providing a public service?
Has electricity, like many other sectors including healthcare, education, and essential citizen services, been transformed into a commodity and surrendered to market forces—becoming yet another vehicle for enriching leaders and officials at the expense of the majority?
Is the political-economic dimension of the electricity sector and other crucial sectors like healthcare and education viewed through the lens of essential public services, or merely as opportunities for exploitation and profiteering?
Are the established rates genuinely subsidized by the government, or are they generating profit and being commercialized?
Why does the government continuously sell portions of itself to the private sector, including segments of the electricity sector?
Addressing these questions helps us understand the dangers of neoliberalizing all sectors of life and the risks associated with selling government services to private interests and market mechanisms. We all know who stands behind the market and the majority of companies.
Ultimately, this examination reveals the consequences of these policies on citizens’ eroding trust in the Kurdistan Regional experience and the completion of national liberation.
From a political-economic systems perspective, different viewpoints exist regarding human necessities and how to provide for them. Various perspectives also exist on the state’s role in social life and citizen requirements. Each political party’s economic and political identity determines the principles of equality, social and economic justice, and dignified living, which are clearly reflected in governance when assuming power—even if they deny it.
The caretaker government, with all its ministries, lacks the authority to implement any project that increases the burden on citizens’ shoulders.
It is the projects and programs of political parties, upon taking power, that determine the class foundations of society and the differences in class status, poverty, wealth, equal opportunity, and the existence of a dignified life—not fate or destiny.
What causes the majority to have their dignity broken daily under various pretexts, forcing them to bow their heads just to survive while an emerging minority possesses vast power and wealth, is not life’s destiny. Rather, it is the essential identity of power and the result of governance.
