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Yousif Mohammad, the new leader of parliament, is setting a good example (Pic – Rudaw)
By Arian Mufid:
With the formation of the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet, all eyes are on the Gorran movement’s ministers and members of the Kurdistan parliament. Gorran tends not to admit past mistakes but, over the past few months, it has tried to select good, qualified people for this eighth KRG cabinet. The story of the leader of the Kurdistan parliament, Gorran member Yousif Mohammad, is a salutary one. It has come to light that he refused to accept three vehicles, ‘inherited’ from his predecessor, and will only use one. He has also halved his wages, compared to his predecessor’s. That is the sort of example voters are expecting to see from the Gorran movement.
Gorran told its supporters that the purpose of taking government posts was to change the culture of Kurdish politics, and not to reap privileges. Gorran is facing a huge challenge, considering the difficulties that beset the south of Kurdistan economy. According to advisors to KRG finance minister Ali Hama Salih, there is a list of 10,000 pensioners who get paid without any evidence that their pensions are linked to previous employment. Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, Jalal Talabani’s sister-in-law and a high-ranking PUK leader, went further by telling local media that 100,000 pensioners are being paid for their political allegiances; 63,000 belonging to the KDP and the rest to the PUK. We have the names of seven high-ranking Kurdish politicians who get pensions totalling almost $60,000 per month. This is disastrous for Kurdistan’s coffers at a time when graduates have no jobs and students have no new schools.
Gorran needs to solve this problem. It should have a coherent policy to combat this corruption and defeat the nepotism among the political parties. It must do what it said in the election campaign. Gorran needs to prove itself and materialise its promises. Otherwise, in the future Gorran will not be trusted and re-elected.
