Gorran, a new political coalition in Iraqi Kurdistan, has done better than expected against the PUK and KDP in regional elections. Discontent with the two ruling parties has been brewing for years, as I found during my trip to the area in March 2006. Pre-election reporting in this round told of the two parties resorting to slimeball tactics (freezing salaries of party dissenters, etc.) in order to swing the outcome their way. I’m sure I’m not the first to note a similarity with South Africa, where the African National Congress, a liberation movement turned complacent and arrogant governing force, has (so far) fended off challenges from the recently formed Congress of the People (COPE).
Kurdistan could build on its initial democratic promise, or it could fritter it away and go the all too typical route of corruption and authoritarianism. Gorran might represent a decent way forward.
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