Corruption is set to be the central issue when Iraq’s Kurds vote in elections on Saturday, as residents grow increasingly uncomfortable with the alleged nepotism and dodgy business dealings that have helped to keep Kurdistan’s two leading families in power.

This discomfort, combined with the new-found popularity of a candidate campaigning against graft and for change, could hold the new Kurdish regional government to greater account, even though President Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic party (KDP), is certain to be returned to office.