Prime Minister Barzani: Government Reforms Are Essential to Security

From the Editor

The future of Kurdistan is being shaped not only by politics or regional diplomacy but by whether governance can produce real economic opportunity, especially for a younger generation facing a shrinking public sector and rising expectations. That was the central message running through the Special Conversation with Prime Minister Masrour Barzani at MEPS Forum 2025, where the Prime Minister highlighted the role of government reforms as a foundational pillar of security.

Throughout the conversation with renowned journalist and energy expert, Amena Bakr, Prime Minister Barzani returned to one core message: reform and good governance at home are essential components of security; when institutions deliver services effectively and efficiently, society is less vulnerable to outside influence and exploitation during major regional or global shocks. Stability is not sustained by slogans, noted the Prime Minister, but by functioning institutions and a government that delivers on its promises and obligations. The Prime Minister’s remarks could not have been more prescient amid the war with Iran and the escalation in the region, including hundreds of drone and missile attacks on the Kurdistan Region.

The conversation opened with Baghdad. Asked to characterize the current power-sharing experience with the federal government, the Prime Minister rejected the premise that real power sharing actually exists. His answer was blunt: if there was genuine power sharing, many of the issues dominating the relationship would not still be unresolved. The relationship between Erbil and Baghdad, he argued, is supposed to be governed by the Iraqi constitution, yet some of its most important provisions remain unimplemented. He pointed specifically to disputed territories, the absence of a hydrocarbon law, and continuing disputes over the budget. These are core constitutional failures.

The people voted for services, which is a large part of the reason why the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) secured the most votes in Iraq as a whole following the recent parliamentary elections, totalling 1.1 million. He rooted the KDP’s support in its historical role and its identity as a party that represents not only Kurds but all those who live in Kurdistan, across ethnicities and religions, and as a consequence of the trust it has built through coexistence and inclusivity. The Prime Minister highlighted Runaki and the move toward 24-hour electricity, MyAccount, the digitalization of financial institutions and investment in infrastructure and education as a central reason for the KDP’s success. The collective net result of the reform agenda was the elimination of bureaucratic silos and the empowerment of citizens.

Security around oil production formed another major strand of the conversation, which unfolded only weeks after militia groups struck energy infrastructure with drones. He said the perpetrators and affiliated groups were known, that information had been communicated to the federal government, and that although some individuals were arrested, they were later released on bail and did not face meaningful consequences.

From energy the conversation moved back to domestic reforms. The Prime Minister placed economic policy, youth opportunity, and institutional modernisation at the centre of Kurdistan’s long-term stability debate. The KRG’s reform agenda focuses particularly on electricity, banking and public finances, and the Prime Minister asserted that reform becomes politically meaningful only when it changes the everyday relationship between citizens and the state. In other words, as a mechanism for establishing and maintaining trust, addressing grievances and enabling a durable political order that is underpinned by a sustainable social contract.

The Prime Minister described Runaki and MyAccount as foundational pillars for a broader transformation in Kurdistan. Runaki was part of the effort to deliver electricity reliably and modernise service provision. MyAccount was part of building a banking relationship between citizens and the state. The next step, he explained, was e-Psûle, a platform which was recently launched and allows citizens to pay bills from home rather than queue for several hours. This not only makes life easier for people and open up the space for increased productivity but it would also give the government instant visibility over revenue collection. 

The conversation made clear that public employment cannot remain the default answer to social demand, particularly for a younger generation entering the labour market in large numbers and expecting real prospects rather than symbolic promises. This was not simply about unemployment statistics. It was about whether the political system can generate enough confidence to persuade younger generations that staying, building, and participating still make sense. The state cannot be the only source of economic security. In such an environment, private-sector work struggles to gain traction, credibility, which stifles entrepreneurship. Hence, both the potential of the youth and their expectations are suppressed in a model that cannot be sustained.

The Prime Minister asserted that private-sector growth will remain limited as long as citizens continue to view public employment as the only path associated with long-term security, retirement protection, and social legitimacy. In this respect, the Prime Minister emphasised that government has a crucial enabling role. The state must set rules, create regulatory clarity, reduce barriers to entry, and build institutional conditions in which the private sector becomes viable and capable of fulfilling the aspirations of the public at large.

The conversation treated government not as a passive observer of economic change but as the actor responsible for shaping the environment in which change can happen. That logic continued in his discussion of The Bloom project, a new model of state-backed opportunity for youth. Unlike conventional approaches to financing, Bloom connects young people and start-up businesses to banks and finance, harnessing the government’s role as a guarantor and enabler.

The conversation ended by moving outward, this time to Syria. The Prime Minister said Syria’s future depends on whether it builds an inclusive state and constitution that gives all communities a real sense of belonging.

The Prime Minister explicitly rejected any effort by one group to impose its vision on the rest, arguing that this has never produced peace and never will. He named Kurds, Alawites, Druze, and different Sunni communities as components whose views must be taken seriously. His advice to Syrian actors was that communities complement each other more effectively than they destroy each other. He then connected that principle back to the forum itself, noting that he had hosted both the Kurdish National Council in Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces. The significance of that moment, he said, was that real peace requires action, not just talk.

Respect for people, respect for different nationalities, ethnicities, and religions, and a real belief in coexistence were, in his words, the foundations of progress in the region at large. Change, he said, begins in the mind, but once people believe in it, they can find the means to realize it.

The Prime Minister’s closing remark was unequivocal: Kurdistan is on the right track, it is moving forward, and no one can stop it.