Day Nine - Dr Barham Salih on the Rise

Shkow Sharif

“He is a 21st century Kurd in tune with today’s youth, and popular culture and is looking to reform the system from within”

“He is just another corrupt leader amongst the many we currently have in Kurdistan looking to make another buck”

Whatever your view of Dr Barham Saleh is it is important for all Kurds to devote time to get to know the next expected Prime Minister of the KRG. After waiting in the wings of Iraqi Politics for the last four years the PUK and KDP’s power sharing agreement is about to instate Dr Barham Salih as the regions next Prime Minister succeeding the current Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. This of course will only be the case if the Kurdistani List is able to keep the other competing lists at bay and win the majority of seats in parliament to form the next government.

With this in mind Dr Barham Salih has in recent months embarked on one of the most progressive PR campaigns that has ever been witnessed in Kurdish Politics. His PR campaign, firstly, begins on the streets of Kurdistan where he has become the face of the Kurdistani list in the PUK strongholds. You can’t miss his face as you walk past, public advertising boards, PUK headquarters, even lamp and electricity posts that all boast large posters of a smiling Dr Barham in front of the Kurdistani list logo. His campaign’s aggressiveness is evident as one walks through Suleymania where one struggles to be confronted with official Kurdistani List pictures of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. In previous years one would have expected the streets to be littered with Jalal Talabani’s portrait.

Second, his PR campaign has reached the Kurdish airwaves where his speeches to residents of Kurdistan are televised to a home and international audience on KURDSAT, Gali Kurd, Kurdistan TV, and Zagros satellite channels. He also has been tasked with presenting numerous Kurdistani list campaign messages on these channels.



Thirdly, where Dr Barhams Salih’s PR campaign differs from many others in Kurdish history is that he understands and has utilised the power of new media to reach a younger and wider audience. Dr Barham Salih has also complimented his party based PR campaign with a personal online campaign. Today Dr Barham Salih is a regular user of the social networking websites, Twitter and Facebook with over 2000 followers. He has also created a website dedicated to his PR campaign.



Having said all this, we as Kurdish citizens must look past the PR mask and ask who is the man that is set to lead our government for the next four years? Dr Barham Salih, the suit wearing, educated family man by his own Twitter admission is a reformist at heart but one that believes reform should be done within the party apparatus. Born in 1960 he joined the PUK in 1976 and left Kurdistan in 1979 after being arrested twice by the Baathist government. While in diaspora he earned a degree in Civil and Structural Engineering at Cardiff University, a M.Sc. and Ph.D in Statistics and Computer Applications in Engineering at the University of Liverpool. Dr Barham Salih, often described by outsiders as Washington’s man, as he speaks flawless English and seems to understand the international political scene, has since worked within the KRG either as an international representative or as a political figure within the country.



As Prime Minister Dr Barham Salih’s main challenge will be to win back the electorates lost confidence in the PUK . This is particularly relevant in recent years as the PUK is under extreme strain from rival movements that are splintering from the PUK such as Nawshirwan Mustafa’s “Change” List. Many argue that the only way for him to revive the PUK and Kurdistani list is to push for internal reforms, push to root out corrupt elements and encourage a more transparent political establishment.

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