The massive protests in southern and central Iraq over the outcomes of the Iraqi political process , which began in 2003 till now as these outcomes were the financial and administrative corruption, the absence of public services for citizens, the spread of poverty and illiteracy , have again brought to the forefront the talk of the success of the Kurdish leadership in achieving the prosperity of the cities of the Kurdistan Region despite all the challenges, to be a comparison between the rapid development witnessed by the Region and the case of the other Iraqi provinces as a heavy material, especially on social networking sites, which praised most of the success of Iraq’s Kurds in the administration of Kurdistan region. The Kurdish political class contributed to that prosperity and in the forefront of that class is Nechirvan Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq as he is credited with the biggest role in the economic rehabilitation and development of the Kurdish region. He is currently emerging as the first person in the Region .
The comparison between the two Kurdish models in the Kurdistan region, which is characterized by prosperity and the model of Union , and “Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces, ” which suffers from the visible deterioration , many observers to consider the Kurdistan of Iraq and represented by the rule of Nechirvan Barzani model should be followed by Iraq if it wants to exit from the tunnel of corruption and social , economic and political ruin. In fact, the Kurdistan region, which enjoys some form of autonomy, has been living in a state of safety and political openness and economic advancement unlike other areas of Iraq where there is fear and destruction. Although the Kurdish region has suffered throughout the past few years from the scourge of war and murder campaigns that almost reached the point of genocide, it soon gathered its strength and sought to take control and move towards a safer and more prosperous future. The Kurdish parties have gone through terrifying experiences of rivalry and fighting, but they have managed to reach an understanding that paved the way for the establishment of civil peace and the rise of a peaceful society in which the pillars of construction and development are rising. Within the last few years of the Kurdistan Regional Governments led by Nechirvan Barzani , large space of political freedoms have arisen and the first seeds of civil institutions have grown. The Region Government is advancing progressively towards unprecedented prospects for political pluralism and the consolidation of civil society. He is with a prosperous Kurdistan region and a prosperous Iraq.
Nechirvan Barzani and during his presidency of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, is thought that the region witnessed between 2004 and 2014 an economic boom changed its urban features and made it the focus of the eyes of the world of business and finance for a decade, and the optimism of some observers and analysts to describe what is happening there an economic miracle predicts the transformation of the region to “Hong Kong Middle East”. The economic boom in which tens of billions of dollars were invested in real estate and some infrastructure sectors. At the beginning of 2004, the average per capita income in the Kurdistan Region compared to other regions in Iraq increased by 25%.
The opening and expansion of economic and commercial, construction and reconstruction, in addition to creating confidence for the owners of capital, all factors have made Kurdistan to gain a prominent political status, opening consulates of the United States of America and many European and Arab countries, along with the presence of hundreds of construction and development companies that invest in the Kurdistan Region . After the years of economic prosperity that lasted ten years, the Kurdistan region has suffered several crises since 2014, with the advent of ISIS organization and the resort of about two million people to the region, followed by the collapse of oil prices in the second half of the year and coincided with the suspension of salaries of regional employees by the Baghdad government, The crisis exacerbated by the refusal of the central government in Baghdad to pay 17% of the budget revenues to the Kurdistan Region.
Barzani also expressed great interest in the economic issues in the Kurdistan Region, including the policy of natural resources development, strengthening political and economic relations with neighboring countries and the international community, strengthening the local economy and attracting foreign investment, defending women’s rights, and the development and promote the tuition and higher education and reconstruction of the infrastructure of the Kurdistan Region, especially the electricity network and management of water resources and housing, roads and bridges, and the organization of the policy of extraction of oil and gas of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
This accomplishment would not have been achieved without Nechirvan Barzani’s political standing being respected by the political parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. In his speech, he focuses on how to reorganize the Kurdish House away from disputes and conflicts. He is seen in the Kurdish political circles as a less polarizing figure and maintains more cordial relations with his civil society in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. His political ideas coincide with Baghdad’s desire to deal with a new leadership that is less severe in nationalist tendencies to separate from Iraq and establish an independent Kurdish state, depending on the policy of dialogue with Baghdad away from slogans and inflammatory statements. Barzani also enjoys great respect in the Western political circles, especially the US and the East, as he works to strengthen the region’s relations with neighboring countries, especially with Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which considers him as a central figure in Kurdish politics in particular, and Iraqi in general.
Summary of the above It can be said that Nechirvan Barzani adopted in the management of the Kurdistan region of Iraq on the policy of seize opportunities sought for the strength of the Kurdistan region politically , economically , security and militarily in the troubled Middle East. The basic principle adopted by him is that “we are friends of all , it characterizes his diplomacy at present time and for decades to come.” It reminds us of the political and economic achievements and the principle of the internal and external policies of Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida in the post-World War II era, the patron of the Japanese Renaissance after that war. History not only brings back to memory people, but their effective policies in the administration of the state. What is more like the Nijervan of Iraq’s Kurdistan to Japan’s Yoshida.
Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies