Saturday, 07/11/2015, 17:49
Corruption is Kurdistan’s biggest economic problem. The two ruling parties’ dominant control lets corruption flourish. Corruption relies on family-clan and/or peshmerga ties. Kurdish corruption starts at the top with a few political “godfathers” who quietly distribute contracts among themselves.
Some members of a younger, third generation of party leaders in alliance with reform-minded politburo members in both parties are pushing for reform. However, their efforts are unlikely to bear fruit until after the Kirkuk issue is resolved and Kurdistan’s borders are decided.
The biggest complaint most ordinary Kurds have about both the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is their extreme corruption.
Most Kurds believe corruption permeates every level of the parties and the two Kurdistan Regional Governments (KRGs) they control: KRG-Erbil (KRG-E) and KRG-Sulaymaniyah (KRG-S). Most believe the two parties see the ubiquitous political controls they put on public life as necessary to protect their respective sources of illicit funds. Thus, common wisdom in Kurdistan links corruption and the democracy deficit...
