The KDP's Mistake: What Will the Sulaimani Region Do?

The KDP’s Greatest Victory Is Kurdistan’s Greatest Defeat

Biyar Omar Abdullah | Exclusive to iKurd.net
Translated by iKurd.net from Kurdish Westganews

The KDP’s Mistake: What Will the Sulaimani Region Do?

If buying members of parliament and destroying Iraq’s Kurdistan Region are considered signs of success, then the KDP has achieved its greatest success ever.

Changing the balance of power through political agreements and a shared agenda is very different from cheap political deals, handing out dollars, and buying off a few weak and easily influenced members of parliament.

In 1996, the KDP and the Baath Party took control of the Kurdistan Parliament. Now, in 2026, after 30 years in power, the KDP and a group of disloyal members of parliament have once again reduced the Kurdistan Parliament to an institution with no real power.

In their speeches, they present themselves as heroes of the Kurdish cause and defenders of the Kurdistan Region. But in practice, they have become political gravediggers, digging a grave for the Kurdistan Region.

Their political recklessness has turned Parliament and the government into powerless shells, while opening the door for regional countries to interfere even further and ultimately weakening the Region.

Kurdistan parliament Speaker Yousif Muhammed Sadiq Mar 16, 2016 — Kurdistan Parliament Speaker Yousif Mohammed Sadiq, a member of the Gorran Movement, who was barred from entering Erbil and the parliament building in 2015, before the Barzani-led Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) closed the parliament, in Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, March 16, 2016. Photo: NRT.

Whenever the KDP finds itself in the minority, it closes the doors of Parliament, as it did in 2015 when it expelled the Change Movement (Gorran).

But whenever it secures a majority using money from stolen oil revenues, it makes Parliament function again. This double standard, which has continued for years, must come to an end.

The KDP is also making serious mistakes within its own ranks. To take revenge on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of today and the Change Movement (Gorran) of the past, it gives high-ranking positions to people who have betrayed others and joined the KDP over the past ten years in exchange for money and positions.

Meanwhile, many talented, hardworking, and loyal KDP members are being pushed aside, even though their families have made sacrifices dating back to the September Revolution.

Hardi Salah defected from Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK Nov 4, 2026 iKurd net — Kurdish lawmaker Hardi Salah defected from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), declaring himself politically independent. Critics, however, claim that he was paid a substantial sum by the Barzani-led Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to switch sides, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, November 4, 2026. Photo: iKurd.net/screengrab K24 TV video.

We are now at a turning point and facing a golden opportunity to turn this defeat into a victory. This outdated political model, in which one political party tries to impose its will over a large geographical area whose people reject its rule and do not vote for it, has run its course. It is now time to put an end to the wave of political and economic punishments imposed on this region.

Through its actions, the KDP has provided strong justification for making several fundamental changes.

Now is the time for parties such as the PUK, New Generation, Halwest, Komal, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), and some of the other political groups to seize this opportunity.

They should work to redesign the foundations and structure of governance in a way that is more open and fair, allowing people in each province and area to make decisions about their own lives, livelihoods, and economies instead of continuing to wait for a powerless, rubber-stamp parliament.

Our geographical and administrative structure must be reorganized. This could mean two zones within a single regional framework, two regions within a confederation, or granting each province full administrative and economic powers to govern itself.

In other words, the name of the political model does not matter. What matters is changing the philosophy of governance, opening up the system, and allowing every area, province, and independent administration to freely decide how it governs itself.

This article was originally published in the Kurdish language in Westganews on November 6, 2026.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of iKurd.net or its editorial team.