www.gorran.net
The Movement for Change Party, also known as Gorran or Goran (which means “change” in Kurdish), is a political party in Iraqi Kurdistan, and is the largest opposition party to the coalition government formed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party.
The party was founded in 2009 by Peshmerga veteran and former PUK member, Nawshirwan Mustafa. Mustafa founded Gorran to challenge allegations of corruption and nepotism of the two ruling Kurdish Parties, the KDP and PUK. Since 2009, the Gorran party has seen a rapid increase in popularity, winning 25 seats in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)‘s parliament in 2009, and eight seats in the Iraqi parliament in 2010.
Second Largest Party in KRG
Gorran is now the second major party in Iraqi Kurdistan, having secured support from traditionally PUK-supporting areas. In 2009, voters unhappy with the KDP and PUK swung thier support for Gorran, giving the party 25 seats, while the PUK only won 18 seats.
In the city of Sulaymaniyah, a traditional PUK stronghold, the Gorran Movement for Change won a majority of 51% of the votes in the 2009 Iraqi Kurdistan Elections.
Seats in Iraqi Parliament
Gorran also secured seats in the Iraqi parliament in the 2009 Iraqi parliamentary elections. Gorran ran on a platform claiming that the KDP and PUK had not done enough for the Kurds.