CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 31

MUSHEGH GHAHRIYAN
capital Erbil 7 . After this incident the parliament ceased to function
until September 2017, when it voted in favor of holding independence
referendum.
A major problem in the way of sustainable governance and
democracy remains nepotism and tribalism. As noted D. McDowall,
following the demise of traditional tribalism as the prime form of
social-political organization during the 1970s, the 1990s saw the
emergence of neo-tribalism as two major «confederations» competed
for hegemony in Iraqi Kurdistan. At the center of each party, as with
traditional confederations, lay a core of those loyal to the paramount.
Beyond this core lay a widening group of people who supported one
confederation or the other less directly. Thus the system of patronage
and power still reached down to the street through intermediaries who
themselves acquired followings through patronage 8 .
Democratic institutes in Iraqi Kurdistan largely have been fictive
ones. The real power belongs to the KDP and the PUK leaders. They
and their relatives control economic and financial resources. The
Peshmerga consists of the military units of two parties rather than a
state army run by the government. Nepotism is widespread in the
KRG and within party structures. For example, the President of
Kurdistan region is Masoud Barzani. His nephew Nechirvan Barzani
is the prime minster. The son of Masoud Barzani, Masrour Barzani,
heads the Kurdistan Region Security Council. Members of the
families of Kurdish party leaders have high ranks in the party system
and the KRG. According to accusations, many of the most profitable
companies, such as those controlling construction projects, are owned
by a Barzani or Talabani, and relatives of the two leaders. The Kurds
have long honored tribal and family ties. Military tribalism pervades
their sense of loyalty, in particular the Barzani Kurds 9 .
7
Political Crisis Escalates in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, 13.10.2015,
https://www.rferl.org/a/political-crisis-escalates-in-iraqi-kurdistan/27303307. html
8
McDowall D., A Modern History of the Kurds, (Revised Edition), I.B.Tauris,
2016, pp. 385-386
9
Yaphe J., Middle East Policy Council, Tribalism in Iraq, the Old and the New,
Volume VII, N 3, 2000 http://www.mepc.org/journal/tribalism-iraq-old-and-
new-0
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