Obviously, comments are not all positive. Salih’s critics say he spent too long within the PUK and is actually part of the problem; they would not trust him to start anything new. Other sceptics suggest that he is not a bold enough figure to make a dent in Kurdish politics where, for example, machismo and nationalistic posturing gains much support. They say that as a politician, Salih works through compromise and negotiation and that won’t cut it.
“Barham has good experience outside Iraqi Kurdistan and we can see he’s been very successful, especially when it comes to management,” suggests Latif Fateh Faraj, a former member of the Iraqi Kurdish military who now works as a journalist and political analyst. “But the main condition for the success of his new initiative will be if he can reach out to people in Erbil and Dohuk, and not just in Sulaymaniyah.”
Salih is based in Sulaymaniyah and this is territory controlled by the PUK, his former party. Erbil and Dohuk are controlled by the KDP, his potential political rivals.
Currently Salih and members of the Change movement are trying to come up with a potential candidate for the Iraqi Kurdish presidency. Nobody will deny or confirm whether Salih himself would try for the job, currently held by a rambunctious Massoud Barzani.
Some of Iraqi Kurdistan’s biggest internal problems stem from the fact that Barzani has remained president of the region since 2005 - illegally, his critics say.
According to Zmanko Jalal, an official supervising electoral procedure for the Change movement, they have come to a decision and chosen a strong candidate, with the ability to compete with other Kurdish politicians.
If Salih’s coalition is successful it will be a first for Iraqi Kurdistan. There have been other, smaller coalitions in the Kurdish parliament in the past but they were never very successful. And as yet, nobody even knows whether all the other parties have agreed to accompany Salih on his mission.
Still, some Kurds see it as an exciting and positive development on the local political scene. “The Kurdish region cannot get out of its current political stagnation without shaking up the political map,” says Kamal Rauf, a local journalist. “This situation can’t be changed by one party. We need a coalition!”
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