ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s Kurdish deputy finance minister Fazil Nabi has submitted his resignation and returned home in anger at the central government’s failure to send the autonomous Kurdistan Region its fair share of this year’s budget.
Nabi told Rudaw that the decision to hold up the budget – causing severe financial problems for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) – had been made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his deputy for energy affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani.
“Maliki and Shahristani are not willing to send the share of the Kurdistan Region of the budget,” he said.
“Maliki ordered to stop the budget so that the people of Kurdistan Region will revolt against the Kurdistan Regional Government,” Nabi accused.
As Erbil and Baghdad have locked horns over the intractable budget issue, the last three months have been the hardest financial period for the Kurdistan Region since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, some officials say.
One KRG official said things were getting so bad that the local government could have problems paying salaries next month. Some government employees already have not received their salaries for the last two months, sparking several demonstrations.
“Baghdad has never been so tough towards Kurds,” Nabi said in the interview with Rudaw. “Baghdad used to make threats in the past as well, but it has never been like now.”
He said he had no doubt the budget issue was being used by Maliki as pressure to force Erbil to hand over control of its oil exports to the central government.
An oil row, over Erbil saying it is ready to begin oil exports through a pipeline to Turkey and Baghdad forbidding independent crude sales – has gone hand-in-hand with the month’s old budget dispute.
“Maliki is pressing the Kurdistan Region in every possible way in order to have Baghdad control the oil policy of the Kurdistan Region,” according to Nabi, who said he had anticipated Maliki’s intention to squeeze Erbil through the budget.
“That is why I sent the January payments on January 8, 2014. Later on, the (finance) minister decided not to send anymore payments for the Kurdistan Region, after he was informed of my action.”
Nabi said he had exchanged harsh words with the minister, which had strained their relations. After hearing the minister, Nabi said he was “convinced that the issue is out of the minister’s control. Maliki and Shahristani are the ones who have made the decision.”
At a ministerial meeting Maliki had insisted on holding up payments to the Kurdistan government, Nabi said. He claimed Maliki had said, “let the people revolt against the Kurdistan Regional Government.”
“I am very serious. If the issues are not resolved by the end of this week, will not return to Baghdad, even if Maliki does not accept my resignation,” Nabi vowed.
This is not the first time Nabi has threatened to resign. “Five months ago I got upset over some issues and I threatened to resign. Maliki told me that he would do everything for me if I don’t resign,” Nabi explained.
A KRG delegation, headed by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, is scheduled to visit Baghdad for the third time in two months to resume discussions over the oil and budget issues. “This is going to be a decisive week for the budget and oil issues,” Nabi predicted.
Kurdish officials insist that Baghdad has never paid the KRG the full 17 percent of the national budget specified under the constitution. “So far, we have never received our budget from Baghdad completely,” KRG deputy finance minister Rashid Tahir said recently.
But Nabi said: “Since the end of 2007, when I have been in Baghdad, we have sent the share of Kurdistan budget.”
Nabi also provided the latest figures of the Iraqi national budget and Kurdistan’s share:
“The Iraqi budget is 163 trillion dinars. The share of Kurdistan Region from the budget is 19.7 trillion dinars. Also, Kurdistan Region is entitled to 2.14 trillion dinars from the sovereign budget. In total, the share of Kurdistan Region from the budget is around 22 trillion dinars.”
