Political reform in Iraq has been a cumbersome effort filled with setbacks and opposition. However, the country's inability to conduct a census since 1987 shows just how much work needs to be done. A country's population is one of the basic questions when discussing reform and government structure. However, ethnic and sectarian issues have been large obstacles in conducting the census. The current estimates for Iraq's population are based on outdated data from regional areas, run by officials with separate agendas. Due to recent security conditions, the latest scheduled census has been postponed indefinitely. The postponement of the census is not a rare occurrence in Iraq, with the original census being scheduled for 2007. Prime minister of the Kurdish region, Barham Salih, has stated that the delayed census "will only feed the sense of a lack of confidence in the leadership of this country [Iraq]."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/world/middleeast/07iraq.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast
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