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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Following two days of intense debate within the legislature, Kurdistan Parliament is finally set to vote on a contentious 19-Article reform bill on Thursday.
The bill, titled Reform of Pensions, Salaries, Allowances, Grants and other Benefits, underwent a first parliamentary session for a second round of reading on Sunday, in the presence of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ministers. Debate of the bill’s clauses continued well into the night, with a reading of just 4 of 19 articles completed.
MPs completed debate on the remaining 15 articles on Monday. A parliamentary vote will take place on Thursday.
“The Kurdistan Parliament conducted a second reading of the reforms bill, and Thursday, there will be a vote,” parliament said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Debate between MPs from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and opposition party New Generation even escalated into yelling and the throwing of objects at each other.
After months on hold, the first reading of the reform bill took place in the legislature on December 16, five days after its approval by the Council of Ministers.
Parliament initially passed the bill, which introduces salary reforms to the salaries and institutionalizes the pensions of public employees including Peshmerga forces, on February 27, 2018.
However, the bill was not ratified after widespread public protests broke out against parliamentarians, who were accused of using the bill to effectively set their own wages. The bill had originally set the minimum monthly pension for public employees at 300,000 Iraqi dinars (about $253), while allocating a 4 million dinar (about $3,375) monthly pension for Kurdish MPs.
With the new reform bill, it is hoped the KRG can retrieve tens of millions of dollars by preventing people from illegally receiving more than one salary and eliminating ghost employees.
To sway influence in elections, the Region’s establishment parties have over the years built large, expensive patronage networks. These entrenched party interests have made passage of the bill through parliament difficult.
The previous government cabinet and parliament did not manage to pass the bill due to disagreements among parliamentary blocs. The task was therefore left to the current cabinet.
This time, disagreements remained over the pensions of MPs who retire early, the salary of individuals with disabilities, and the salaries of high ranking civilian and military officials.
“The number of our [Peshmerga] Generals is a lot, maybe as much as China and others. The number of our [Kurdistan Region] ministers has exceeded that of Iraq,” finance minister and parliament attendee Sheikh Janab told MPs on Tuesday.
Peshawa Hawrami, a KDP MP, told Rudaw that the “good news” was that high ranking officials, such as Ministers, Director Generals, and Advisers, will “no longer see the gigantic salary” they currently receive.
“We have asked for the salaries to be decreased to the lowest possible level,” Hawrami added.
“MPs expressed concerns about the impact of the Reform Bill on the salaries and benefits of people with disabilities, former political prisoners, martyrs’ families and disabled Peshmerga. The KRG ministers responded that the Bill will not reduce benefits for those who are entitled, but will remove benefits from those [who aren’t],” parliament said in a Monday statement.
The majority of the Region’s revenues go towards paying the allowances and salaries of the over a million civil sector staff and Peshmerga, who serve the Kurdistan Region’s total population of 6 million.
The bill, titled Reform of Pensions, Salaries, Allowances, Grants and other Benefits, underwent a first parliamentary session for a second round of reading on Sunday, in the presence of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ministers. Debate of the bill’s clauses continued well into the night, with a reading of just 4 of 19 articles completed.
MPs completed debate on the remaining 15 articles on Monday. A parliamentary vote will take place on Thursday.
“The Kurdistan Parliament conducted a second reading of the reforms bill, and Thursday, there will be a vote,” parliament said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Debate between MPs from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and opposition party New Generation even escalated into yelling and the throwing of objects at each other.
After months on hold, the first reading of the reform bill took place in the legislature on December 16, five days after its approval by the Council of Ministers.
Parliament initially passed the bill, which introduces salary reforms to the salaries and institutionalizes the pensions of public employees including Peshmerga forces, on February 27, 2018.
However, the bill was not ratified after widespread public protests broke out against parliamentarians, who were accused of using the bill to effectively set their own wages. The bill had originally set the minimum monthly pension for public employees at 300,000 Iraqi dinars (about $253), while allocating a 4 million dinar (about $3,375) monthly pension for Kurdish MPs.
With the new reform bill, it is hoped the KRG can retrieve tens of millions of dollars by preventing people from illegally receiving more than one salary and eliminating ghost employees.
To sway influence in elections, the Region’s establishment parties have over the years built large, expensive patronage networks. These entrenched party interests have made passage of the bill through parliament difficult.
The previous government cabinet and parliament did not manage to pass the bill due to disagreements among parliamentary blocs. The task was therefore left to the current cabinet.
This time, disagreements remained over the pensions of MPs who retire early, the salary of individuals with disabilities, and the salaries of high ranking civilian and military officials.
“The number of our [Peshmerga] Generals is a lot, maybe as much as China and others. The number of our [Kurdistan Region] ministers has exceeded that of Iraq,” finance minister and parliament attendee Sheikh Janab told MPs on Tuesday.
Peshawa Hawrami, a KDP MP, told Rudaw that the “good news” was that high ranking officials, such as Ministers, Director Generals, and Advisers, will “no longer see the gigantic salary” they currently receive.
“We have asked for the salaries to be decreased to the lowest possible level,” Hawrami added.
“MPs expressed concerns about the impact of the Reform Bill on the salaries and benefits of people with disabilities, former political prisoners, martyrs’ families and disabled Peshmerga. The KRG ministers responded that the Bill will not reduce benefits for those who are entitled, but will remove benefits from those [who aren’t],” parliament said in a Monday statement.
The majority of the Region’s revenues go towards paying the allowances and salaries of the over a million civil sector staff and Peshmerga, who serve the Kurdistan Region’s total population of 6 million.
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