Sanaa, an Iraqi Kurdish seamstress, will abstain from voting later this month, joining a rising number of people who are losing faith in the political elite that has long ruled the autonomous territory.
Because of its strong connections to both Europe and the United States, Iraqi Kurdistan is regarded as a relative haven of stability in the volatile Middle East and has long attracted the attention of foreign investors.
Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers of Arbil, the regional capital, and the contemporary highways, however, activists and opposition figures draw attention to the same problems that afflict Iraq more widely: political persecution, favouritism by those in positions of authority, and corruption.
“There’s no more trust,” she told AFP, asking to use a pseudonym to speak freely about the two local political clans that have dominated Kurdish politics since the oil-rich region was formed in 1991.
“I won’t vote because they do nothing,” Sanaa, 33, added as she strolled through a market in Arbil where worries about the cost of living are foremost in shoppers’ minds.
“They don’t care about the issues that concern me. We have no money, everything is expensive.”
Conflicts between the two main political parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by the Talabanis, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), managed by the Barzani family, have caused the election for the Kurdistan parliament to be postponed four times.
Following its victory in the 2018 regional elections, the KDP has ruled with allies ever since.
However, just 59% of voters cast ballots, and that number could drop even further if more people avoid polling places like Sanaa and her family, who do not intend to cast ballots.
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