Big Election Coming Up in KRG
The posters are going up and the music is blaring loud. No big public rallies yet that I’ve seen or heard, but it should only be a matter of time.
It’s election time here in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. Citizens will go to the polls on July 25 to elect members of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament, which has considerable say over government spending and programs in Iraq’s three northernmost provinces.
The election is being more hotly contested this time that it has been in the past. The two dominant parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, will run on a joint ticket again this year in hopes of overwhelming all of the smaller parties, just as they did four years ago.
But this time, they will also face a challenge from a reformist group that have named their party “Change” (which works as a name now, but what will they call themselves if/when they ever win?). They and everyone else, even the current ruling parties, are promising better government services and less corruption.
Before you dream up alarmist scenarios inspired by camera phone videos out of Tehran, we do expect that these elections a month from today will be peaceful. But we should pray that they will be so. And we should pray that God would be pleased to provide the KRG with leaders who will love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with God and with their people.
(If you want to read a little bit more background on the elections, here’s a great, brief article just out from Newsweek.)
