SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – A top Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader made an appeal to his fellow politicians engaged in government formation talks – stop stealing and focus on improving the lives of the people.
"The less officials steal, the more prosperous the lives of people will become," Mala Bakhtiar, head of the PUK executive body, said in a press conference in Sulaimani on Saturday.
"That’s it. Embezzle less, dears, so there will be more prosperity for the people. Prosperity is an important thing for people,” he said.
Iraq ranks among the most corrupt nations in the world, a plague that is also a serious problem in the Kurdistan Region. Baghdad has formed a task force to tackle the rampant corruption.
Bakhtiar made the argument that promoting financial and democratic stability should be the “duty” of current leaders in the Kurdistan Region.
“If keeping Kurdistan free from invasion was an instrumental duty of us in the past, social prosperity and democracy is the crucial duty of today. If the parties understand this, then people will agree with us. If they do not understand this, people will never like us," he said.
Kurds of northern Iraq obtained self-governance after decades of armed struggle. They now enjoy constitutional recognition of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Now, they must tackle corruption, said Bakhtiar.
"We have no prosperity. There is zero justice in our country. Corruption is prevalent," he said.
The Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections on September 30, 2018, but have not yet been able to form a government. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which topped the polls but did not win an outright majority, is leading talks with the PUK and Gorran.
Bakhtiar has not been seen taking part in any of the PUK's official meetings. He is known for being outspoken.
"I am telling the speech of my heart and conscience," Bakhtiar added.
He said the whole system of the Kurdistan Region should be shaken up so as to reach the kind of prosperity and justice Europeans enjoy.
"This abnormal situation needs change. The system needs to be changed. Institutions need to be changed. Laws have to be changed. The group’s rights – social rights, women’s rights, men's rights, individual rights, the youths’ rights – all of them need to be changed. There must be good monitoring of companies in the marketplace so they do not manipulate it the way they wish,” he said.
“By doing all of that, prosperity can gradually come about in the Kurdistan Region."
He pointed out that Europe has social safety nets providing shelter, health insurance, and education opportunities to prevent poverty.
His advice to the KDP and PUK personalities leading the government negotiations is “compromise” in order to reach an agreement.
He predicted that the talks might conclude in a month or six weeks, noting that they are making slow progress.