KRG calls on Kurdish MPs to defend its share ahead of federal budget vote

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday called on the Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi parliament to defend the Region’s share, one day ahead of the federal budget vote. Kurdish lawmakers are divided in Baghdad due to political tensions at home.

The Iraqi parliament on Tuesday announced that it would vote on the federal budget bill for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 on Thursday afternoon despite recent amendments to the KRG share which were condemned by the Kurdish government.  

The KRG on Wednesday held its weekly meeting, led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. A statement from the government called on Kurdish political parties in Baghdad to fight for the Region’s rights together during the vote.  

“Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers calls on all Kurdish blocs at the Iraqi parliament to defend the constitutional rights and financial entitlements of the Region in Iraq’s federal budget bill through coordination for the sake of unity,” read the statement. 

The Iraqi government approved the bill in March and sent it to the legislature. The parliament was set to vote on the budget late last month, but disagreements within the finance committee, concerning amendments relating to the Kurdistan Region, prevented the legislature from carrying out the process.

The 2023 budget includes a record $152 billion in spending, 12.6 percent of which is allocated for the Kurdistan Region.

The parliament’s financial committee in late May made amendments to Articles 13 and 14 which include include establishing Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) as the responsible party for selling Kurdistan Region's oil, decreasing the period for Erbil to pay off its debts from seven years to five, creating an account for Kurdistan Region's oil revenues in the Iraqi central bank, and granting the finance minister the power to authorise the Region's prime minister to make withdrawals from that account. In the previous draft, that power was held by the Iraqi prime minister.

Another amendment requires Erbil to pay back 10 percent of the cuts made to the salaries of public sector employees on a monthly basis. The KRG made significant salary cuts to its civil servants in 2014 and afterwards due to a financial crisis caused by a dramatic drop in oil prices, the Islamic State (ISIS) war and the suspension of the Region’s federal budget. 

Kurds are not united in Baghdad and some Kurdish members of the financial committee boycotted the meeting in which the amendments were made while others voted for it. An amendment was even introduced by some Kurdish lawmakers. 

KRG finance minister Awat Sheikh Janab has said the committee does not have the right to add or remove articles from the bill. He also claimed that the amendments aimed to damage Erbil-Baghdad relations. 

Tensions between the Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have escalated in recent years, especially after the assassination of a PUK-affiliated commander in Erbil. 

Baghdad and Erbil have reached an agreement about the Region’s share in the federal budget but the recent amendments, if approved, could harm the deal.