Is Iraq’s political chaos spreading to the Kurdistan region?
Iraqi Kurdistan, the autonomous zone considered a haven of stability in a war-torn country, has been roiled in recent days by political tensions. A violent crackdown on an anti-government protest last weekend and the arrest of parliamentarians from an opposition party have sparked alarm bells in the region.
The northern Iraqi autonomous zone of Kurdistan appears to be catching up with the chaos and political stability that has gripped Iraq since the October 2021 parliamentary elections.
On Saturday, August 6, security forces in Kurdistan fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to disperse anti-government protests in Sulaimaniyah. The opposition New Generation party had called for protests in Sulaimaniyah and other cities in the autonomous region to demand better living conditions and for regional elections to be held on the scheduled date.
Six New Generation lawmakers in the federal parliament in Baghdad as well as a local member of the regional parliament were arrested before being released hours later. Forty New Generation members were among the nearly 600 people arrested that day, according to the opposition party.
In addition, “at least 60 journalists were targeted by the police” during the demonstrations, according to the NGO, Reporters Without Borders. Of the 26 journalists arrested, “at least 10 were journalists from the NRT TV station, which is owned by Shaswar Abdulwahid, a businessman and founder of the New Generation party.
The crackdown underscored the tensions in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has been dominated by the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The autonomous region’s Western allies were quick to condemn Saturday’s violence. On August 8, the US embassy in Baghdad expressed its “concern” over the use of violence by the security forces and urged local authorities to “review these actions and reaffirm the vital roles that a free press, peaceful assembly, and the rule of law play in a democracy”.
