Why Degrading of Parliament and the Government?
The passing of seven months without forming a government and restraining people’s will, along with disabling parliament with the apathetic attitude of the Barzani and Talabani families; the arrogance of Masrur Barzani and the KDP has created a reality showing that this political party is trying to degrade the legislative institutions in favor of his own power-grabbing family and party. All this is for the sake of keeping his own seat and the benefit of his party.
What is going on now in the Kurdistan Region, as in the absence of parliament many decisions are made and heavy taxes are imposed on the people, is part of the oppression I am talking about. Just yesterday, Masrur Barzani signed a contract with a gas company in the US this is while he does not have the legitimacy to stay in power. What does the KDP’s current power-grabbing and its continuation with an illegitimate and unlawful government mean, despite the passing of seven months since MPs took their oaths after the elections on October 20, 2024?
What they talk about and campaign for during elections such as martyrs’ blood, national symbols, and national pride are blatant lies and repeated slogans, only for the sake of their personal and family interests. They play with people’s emotions to keep their grip on power. Otherwise, nothing is more important to them than themselves and maintaining their control over governance. To that end, they sacrifice the homeland, the party, and even their own cadres.
What the leader of the KDP announced in the last few days in Erbil—that “we give no care about anyone to form a government with”—is meant to maintain the current administrative form, in the presence of an ineffective parliament, which should act as a scrutinizing and legislative authority.
The KDP, more specifically Masrur Barzani, does not view the Kurdistan Region’s legislative bodies as constitutional and legal entities. They bypass the courts and legislative institutions, and degrade any article that is not in their personal interest or beneficial to their hold on power. At the moment, the caretaker government is functioning as a normal government. There has been nothing like this in any country—not even in dictatorships.
The situation in which the current parliament is stuck—with an elected body and a number of paid MPs, though it does not fulfill even the minimum of its legislative and constitutional duties—puts democracy in the KRI in a problematic position. It raises a massive question mark over the legitimacy of the entire political system and presents a great risk. This reality confirms that the power-holders in the KRI have never genuinely believed in democracy or legislative authority.
The problem with the constitutional and legal institutions in the KRI has always been the fact that the leaders of the KDP and PUK have been the real obstacles. They never had faith in democracy in its full meaning.
The power-holders in the KRI have created an environment where they never saw parliament and the legislative institutions as bodies representing national principles. Instead, these institutions have been used as tools to achieve their personal, family, and party goals.
The Kurdistan Parliament was closed in 1992, leading to civil war. Later, the doors of parliament were reopened through a bi-party agreement. At the time of the Gorran Movement’s presidency of the parliament, the speaker was again prevented from entering the building, resulting in the closing of parliament for two years, by the decision of Masrur Barzani, the self-imposed, caretaker, illegal PM.
Even in the history of any dictatorship, there has never been an example of a parliament extending its term by itself. With all the probabilities and based on complaints from a number of participating parties—who announced this at open press gatherings—last year’s elections were self-designed, primarily for the benefit of the KDP, then that of the PUK and their proxies.
The reality is, all other political forces, especially the so-called opposition forces, are responsible for the political and administrative deadlock in Kurdistan, including the disabling of the only legislative institution, which is parliament, and the absence of a legitimate and effective government—one that can face the current challenges by fairly and efficiently providing salaries for government employees and basic services for all.
At the moment, the most effective weapon of the KRI power-holders is their operation of a massive media machine, used to grant legitimacy to their illegitimate actions while silencing and oppressing any free and protesting voices.