For more than three decades, particularly since 1991, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has been presented as a semiautonomous polity with its own institutions and an ethnically distinct identity. But beneath that veneer of autonomy lies a more troubling reality. 

Corruption has deteriorated the region, and it is not an aberration in the Kurdish political order; it is deeply embedded in its structures. At the same time, economic fragility, political fragmentation and social disillusionment are converging to produce a crisis. Put simply, the system that once promised refuge and self-determination for the Kurds has become a vector of stagnation and grievance.

The political economy of corruption and power

At the heart of Kurdistan’s systemic malaise is the capture of the political system by a tribal power and entrenched elites. The two dominant parties — the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — have long monopolized power. While corruption levels in the KRI may be somewhat lower than in the rest of Iraq, they remain significant and structurally embedded, and have been worsening in recent years. 

This is largely due to the political entrenchment of party patronage networks and weak bureaucratic oversight mechanisms. Nepotism, clientelism and opaque revenue allocation have become the norm, not the exception.

Scholarly analyses further underline the role of Kurdish nationalism as a legitimizing ideology for entrenched patronage. What began as liberation rhetoric has often been repurposed and instrumentalized to justify the concentration of state resources and to insulate powerful elites from accountability. The effect? A political culture where opposition voices are portrayed as threats to Kurdish unity and rendered as enemies, rather than essential actors in democratic governance.

This dynamic is not merely theoretical. In August 2025, armed clashes erupted in Sulaymaniyah after the arrest of an opposition figure associated with internal PUK dissent, revealing how factionalized power struggles spill directly into violence and civil unrest. Security forces deployed tanks and drones in urban areas, and dozens were arrested amid allegations of destabilization — underscoring how political authority is increasingly enforced through security rather than consensus.

Economic stress and public frustration

Kurdistan’s economy, long reliant on oil exports and federal transfers from the central government of Baghdad, has been under severe stress. Disputes with Iraq’s central government over budgetary allocations and revenue sharing have periodically led to salary freezes for public employees in 2025 — aggravating already precarious livelihoods for teachers, civil servants and healthcare workers. This dispute is not just a technical fiscal issue; it has become a flashpoint of political resentment and constitutional contention.

Beyond salaries, basic services continue to deteriorate. Reports from media outlets indicate widespread power cuts, water shortages and weakened public services across the region, heightening public frustration with a government that seems unable or unwilling to deliver essential infrastructure and social support.

The current situation in the Kurdistan Region increasingly mirrors the post-1990s era in Iraq, when international sanctions crippled the economy, public services collapsed and widespread poverty became an inescapable reality.

These economic pressures accentuate the perception of a kleptocratic order, where public wealth is siphoned through patronage networks and strategic contracts, while everyday citizens grapple with economic insecurity. Such conditions stoke social disillusionment and feed narratives of hopelessness that resonate across households and communities.

Civic space, media and human rights

Corruption not only destroys economics and politics, but it also corrodes civic space, the general rhetoric and media freedom. Independent journalism in the KRI has long struggled under political pressure and, more recently, cuts in foreign aid support have further hampered investigative reporting. As one outlet documented, investigations into sensitive issues like human organ trafficking are often self-censored out of fear of political backlash.

International human rights reporting also highlights a worsening environment for civic freedoms in both federal Iraq and the Kurdish region. Restrictions on peaceful assembly, allegations of arbitrary detention and the use of force against protesters have been documented over the past several years.

This suppression of dissent may yield short-term control, but it furthers the alienation of broad segments of society, especially the youth, civil society activists and independent journalists who see little space to advocate for reform without risking repression.

Social fractures and the weight of public discontent

The combination of corruption, economic decline and political repression is driving a broader social crisis in the KRI. Widespread inactivity and hopelessness among young people, rooted in high unemployment and lack of economic opportunity, fuels both frustration and a sense that the promise of Kurdistan’s autonomy has been hollowed out.

In numerous online videos, Kurdish citizens have voiced growing frustration with the regional authorities, openly calling for their salaries to be paid directly by Baghdad and expressing disillusionment with the KRI’s self-governance.

Public protests have a history in the region: the 2020 demonstrations in Sulaymaniyah were driven by corruption, unemployment, and service failures, and were met with violent crackdowns. Meanwhile, across Iraq, protests in 2025 have resurfaced around salary delays, electricity shortages and poor economic conditions, of which the Kurdish region is a microcosm.

When the state consistently fails to provide basic needs or meaningful participation in governance, people inevitably turn to various forms of expression. This polarization is dangerous in a region already marked by sectarian and ethnic complexity.

The breaking point: when governance fails its people

If current trends persist, the Kurdistan Region faces a deepening convergence of political, economic and social crises. Internal fragmentation among ruling elites and between the government and civil society threatens to reignite violent rivalries, as seen in the Sulaymaniyah clashes. Economic stagnation, opaque fiscal management and inconsistent coordination with Baghdad continue to erode living standards, pushing many, especially young professionals, toward emigration.

Equally alarming is the steady erosion of public legitimacy. A governance model that privileges partisan interests over public welfare undermines the very foundations of the Kurdish social contract. Unless the ruling class embraces transparency, power-sharing and reform, the region risks sliding from fragile stability into systemic decay, betraying the promise that once defined the Kurdish aspiration for self-rule.

[Zania Morgan edited this piece.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.