December 22, 2020 / 10:46 PM
KRG inability is main reason unrest in Iraqi Kurdistan: institute

The Pax Peace Institute in the Netherlands stated in a report that the inability of the government of the Kurdistan Region was the main reason behind the recent demonstrations in the region's second biggest province of Sulaimani.

The citizens of Sulaimani protested for two weeks in protest of their difficult living conditions. For months, they have either not been paid or received any part of their salary from the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Most of the labor force in the Kurdistan Region has been employed by the Kurdistan Regional Government, but the recent crisis has affected the lives of more people in the region, the report described the situation in the Kurdistan Region and the reason behind the protests.

The Dutch Pax Institute believes that the political parties in power in the Kurdistan Region have created a "self-made system of patronage that allows them to gain the support of voters by providing government jobs - often in vain - to be able to remain in power.

The institute blames the KRG for the financial crisis in the Kurdish region because " the KRG's oil revenues are enough to create prosperity, but it is the government's own failures in the KRG and the main cause of social unrest, not the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) or other political parties in federal Iraq."

The institute has described the management of public budgets in the Kurdistan Region and the provision of public services, especially in remote areas in the Kurdistan Region, as horrific.

Pax described the confrontation between the people and the KRG as a confrontation between "rich" versus "poor".

Pax Institute has accused the Kurdistan Region security forces of suppressing the protests and has expressed support for the peaceful protests.

It also called on the KRG to negotiate with the protesters and take constructive steps to improve the living conditions of the Kurds.

Reporter's code: 50101