‘Reform needs a politically stable environment’: PM Barzani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Prime Minister Masrour Barzani held a press conference in Erbil on Wednesday amid ongoing protests in the Kurdistan Region. The premier announced that another delegation will arrive in Baghdad today for continuing negotiations with the federal government.

“We have started an intensive reform process,” said the PM on Wednesday. “In the next phases of the process, we will focus on economic revival,” however an economic revival needs a politically stable environment, he added.

Kurdistan Region civil servants have gone unpaid for much of this year amid budget disputes between the KRG in Erbil and the federal government in Baghdad. The regional government says it has struggled to provide salaries for their civil servants without the federal funding.

Mass protests by civil servants and their supporters erupted in the city of Sulaimani on a week ago over months-long unpaid salaries. The demonstrations have ended in the city after the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons by police forces, but protests have spread to other parts of the province as of Saturday. 

Regarding the protests, the PM stated that, “the protest that started in Sulaimani and Halabja were peaceful. However, they were taken advantage of.”

He also noted that a delegation from the KRG will be in Baghdad today to continue talks with the Iraqi government aimed at reaching a long-term agreement regarding the budget dispute.

On Tuesday, Barzani warned protesters against “destructive efforts” and violence.  

Iraqi MPs on November 12 passed the Fiscal Deficit Coverage Bill, despite a walkout by Kurdish MPs, which approved loans for civil servant salaries in Iraq for the last two months of this year, and in the Kurdistan Region provided that the KRG hands over an unspecified amount of oil in exchange for the Region’s budget share.  

"We have performed our duties regarding the 2021 Iraqi budget law, and it is up for the Federal government and the Iraqi parliament to deal with the rest," said Barzani, adding that “the delay in salaries has not been the KRG’s fault.”

The KRG's Minister of Finance Awat Sheikh Janab has said on Tuesday that the KRG will abide by the fiscal deficit bill, “the KRG will start implementing the duties they have as per the law, and will notify the responsible offices to do their part.”  

PM Barzani also made note of the Erbil-Baghdad deal on Shingal in his Wednesday speech, saying that “the groups that were supposed to leave have not left.”

The Iraqi government and the KRG signed a "historic" agreement on October 9, over the governance and security of the disputed district of Shingal in Nineveh province. The deal is purportedly aimed at resolving a number of issues preventing those displaced from returning to the area.   

Barzani encouraged a new round of unity talks set to take place between Kurdish opposition and ruling parties in northeast Syria in the near future, saying that “negotiations are the only way to resolve issues, and we will support it.” 

Regarding a 50-year “oil contract” with Turkey, he reiterated that agreements were made with Turkey only to use oil pipelines for the transportation of crude flow out of the Region, rather than the pre-sale of the Region’s oil to Turkey.