The main figures in the poll are Iraqi President Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the incumbent Iraqi-Kurdistan region President Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) - former rivals turned allies.

The northern part of Iraq, ruled by the Kurdistan Regional Government, is the closest thing the Kurds have to a state of their own. So the poll is very significant for the more than 30 million Kurds living inside and outside Iraq.

"This is a regional election, but it's very important for the whole region and the representation of Kurds in general," Feleknas Uca, a long-time Member of the European Parliament for Germany's Left Party, told Deutsche Welle.

In northern Iraq, many Kurds dreams of an independent Kurdistan have become at least something of a reality.

"According to the Iraqi constitution, the north is a federal state with the official name Iraqi Kurdistan," Metim Incesu, the chairman of the NAVEND Center for Kurdish Studies in Bonn said. "It's very important because it's the first time Kurds have governed themselves."

Siamend Hajo, a researcher at the European Center for Kurdish Studies in Berlin, concurred.

"It's a unique phenomenon that Kurds get to elect their own representatives," Hajo told DW. "And there's particular anticipation ahead of this election because for the first time it looks like there will be a third major force, the anti-corruption CHANGE party."

But though its cultural significance for Kurds is beyond dispute, the poll itself could fall short of democratic standards.

Two faces of Iraqi Kurdistan

Foreign politicians and observers - especially those connected to the former Bush administration in the US - never tire of praising Iraqi Kurdistan as a oasis of relative democracy and stability in the country. But criticism is growing as well.

In a recent article for The Daily Star, Michael Rubin, an expert for the conservative Washington think-tank American Enterprise Institute, accused Talabani and Barzani of conspiring to suppress opposition parties and overseeing a system of corruption and nepotism.

An Amnesty International report from April 2009 also accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of allowing security forces associated with Talabani and Barzani's parties to operate outside the law.

So what is the true face of Iraqi Kurdistan?

"The PUK and the KDP are somewhat overrepresented in parliament, but the opposition Islamists, for instance, still have five to ten seats there," Incesu said. "The opposition itself is weak so I can't really understand the complaints that opposition is impossible."

Uca warned against jumping to hasty conclusions.

"One basis of democracy should be that everyone has the right to participate, regardless of their views," Uca said. "But one should be careful with accusations of corruption from a distance. They need to be investigated in Iraqi-Kurdistan."

Hajo is more critical.

"I wouldn't really describe Kurdistan as democratic, but rather as pluralistic," he said. "The two big parties have all the power, in part because they've succeeded in 'buying,' i.e. integrating smaller ones. But that's different with CHANGE."

Region in transition

Because of the region's oil wealth, the results of the election are important to lots of people around the world. And neighbors Turkey, Iran and Syria with their large and potentially rebellious Kurdish populations will be following the vote with a particularly keen eye.

But the experts agree that growing economic ties have blunted old animosities - especially between the Turks and the Iraqi Kurds.

"The Turks have gotten used to a Kurdish-dominated Northern Iraq," Jajo said. "They've profited enormously in recent years from all the construction work and the like."

Incesu agrees that Turkey has benefitted economically from the progress that has been made in Iraqi Kurdistan. But he adds that the Turks have always reacted negatively to developments in the area while building connections behind the scenes. That's why for Incesu the Turkish stance on Iraq Kurdistan is contradictory.

"Turkey and northern Iraq are connected economically," Uca said. "Turkey will wait to see where Iraqi Kurdistan proceeds in terms of neighborly relations and the fight against terrorism."

Saturday's election won't bring about any immediate, revolutionary change. But the continuing existence of a semi-autonomous Kurdish government has already altered life in Iraq and neighboring countries.

Author: Jefferson Chase

Editor: Michael Knigge