A System of Power, Not of People: A Critical Look at the Kurdistan Regional Government

Paywand Hamaamin

For years, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has sold itself to the world as a democratic success story in Iraq. In reality, it’s anything but. Behind the polished speeches and foreign handshakes lies a corrupt, family-run regime that exploits the Kurdish people while pretending to serve them.

Power in the KRG isn’t democratic it’s dynastic. The Barzanis (KDP) and Talabanis (PUK) have carved up the region like a private estate, controlling land, oil, the military, and every major institution. This isn’t governance it’s a joint-family monopoly.

Corruption is not an accident. It’s the system. From oil smuggling to land grabs, public money vanishes into the pockets of elites. Meanwhile, there’s no transparency, no oversight, and no shame. Speaking out means risking arrest or worse.

The price of truth? Just ask the families of murdered journalists like Kawa Garmiani and Sardasht Osman. Criticism is criminalized, protests are crushed, and civil society is under siege.

Basic public services continue to collapse. Teachers work unpaid, hospitals run on empty, and youth see only one way forward: leaving Kurdistan behind. Billions in oil revenues flow through the region, yet daily life feels stuck in crisis.

This is not a government it’s a self-serving elite cartel. And unless the patronage networks are dismantled, unless press freedom and independent courts are guaranteed, nothing will change.

The international community must stop treating the KRG like a model of democracy. It’s not. No more blind funding. No more diplomatic praise. Pressure must come with consequences or complicity.

Kurdistan’s promise has become its warning: when power is inherited and not earned, the people pay the price.