25 July is an important day for the citizens of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the far north of Iraq: for the first time in 17 years, the autonomous Kurdish region will be holding direct presidential and parliamentary elections.  Ever since Saddam Hussein and his army pulled out of Northern Iraq in 1992, the KRG has been enjoying but also struggling with its new found freedom. Many are hoping that this weekend’s election will mark an important step towards establishing democracy in the region.

What is going to happen?

The Kurdistan Regional Parliament is a democratically legitimised legislative single chamber that consists of 111 seats, 11 of which are automatically reserved for non-Kurdish minorities in the region.

However, since the establishment of Parliament in 1992, when Kurdistan was at the beginning of its democratic, autonomous 'experiment', there haven't been any elections. This is mainly due to internal unrest - which eventually led to a four-year civil war in 1994 - between two prominent political parties in the Region: the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP), led by Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani; and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, of which Iraqi president Jalal Talabani is secretary. To this day, the two parties control the KRG, leaning on a mandate that is more than 15 years old.

The initial idea for elections was to combine three votes on one day: the parliamentary elections, presidential elections and a referendum on the new constitution the KRG wishes to enact. But the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission in Baghdad postponed the referendum until August 8th. The presidential vote will still be held alongside the parliamentary one.

Why loyal to the current parties?

The majority of KRG residents strongly support the KDP and PUK. Unfortunately, this isn't always in the best interests of democracy: in Kurdistan, the regional administration not only governs its citizens - it also employs most of them. In other words, voting away the KDP and PUK would, in the mind of the average KRG citizen, mean voting away their salaries.

Tribal relations also play a significant role in determining people's political allegiance and the emotional bond many citizens have with the 'heroic leaders' that freed them from a tyrant-like Saddam Hussein should not be marginalized .

Of course we should not exclude the fact that there are indeed voters who approve KRG policy, support it and would like to see another KDP-PUK term in Kurdistan. But the aforementioned factors will always have the priority over other possible justifications.

Why 'change'?

So why do the Kurds need change? Is it because Kurdistan is the birthplace of corruption? Because its leaders have electricity and all the luxury they could wish for, while their citizens don't even have electricity throughout the whole day? Because you are so educationally and economically paralysed that you can't achieve anything in the Region without being well connected, or knowing someone high up? Because the government with its political factions is to this day still failing to annex Kirkuk and other 'disputed areas' which are not included in the Region right now? All popular examples of most vocalised criticism towards the present government.

Among other topics, these are also important issues being dealt with by the new Gorran, or Change, party. For the first time in KRG history Gorran offers the possibility of a real opposition in parliament and represents a large part of the electorate that rejects current government policy.

The Gorran list is an initiative of politician Newshirwan Mustafa. A former high-up in the PUK , he wants to bring a democratic revolution a lá Obama to the KRG. "A total change of the political map in Kurdistan," is what Mustafa and his followers want to achieve. And prospects look good for them. Even government officials predict that Gorran will win a minimum of 10 seats. Critics wonder, though, to what extent the party differs from KDP and PUK.

What's going to happen?

Many Kurdistanis are afraid. What if the elections lead to another civil war, because the current rulers are not ready to accept the outcome? It is evident that this fear plays a role in voting behaviour on July 25th.

Be that as it may, it is probable that the Kurdistan list (PUK-KDP alliance) will again acquire a majority although, given the number of other parties running in the election - including the Kurdish Islamist party - , it's unlikely that it will be more than 50 percent. Because of the upcoming Gorran list, but also because of some other - small but in this line important - lists such as that of the Kurdish Islamists.

If the government is indeed corrupt and reluctant to do something about corruption, the Kurds should be ruthless and send their own employer home, because democracy and with that the prosperity of the Kurds will never be achieved with a corrupt government. But if the KRG presents a good plan to end corruption and takes serious measures in this field, the Kurds should be self-confident and give their support to the current governing parties - 'change' can also come from them.

In either case, people should not be afraid of sending away their employers. Governments don't employ the people, it is the other way round: the people themselves employ the government to act on their behalf.

Governments should therefore be worried about losing their jobs when pursuing bad policy.

* Sidar Bengin Epozdemir is Europe correspondent for weekly newspaper Rudaw based in Irbil (Hewler) in the Kurdistan Region and is at the same time editor-in-chief of www.Rudaw.NL (Dutch). The ins and outs concerning the vote on 25 July 2009 can also be followed through www.Rudaw.Net in English.