Iraqi Ministers Approve 2014 Budget Despite Kurdish Boycott

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi government approved its budget for 2014 without the consent of the Kurdish ministers today. The bill obliges Erbil to hand over its crude oil revenue to Baghdad.

“Today the Council of Ministers approved the budget without the Kurds and the bill expects the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to send all its oil revenues to Baghdad, otherwise Baghdad would cut KRG's share of the federal budget," said Majid Muhammad Ameen, the Iraqi health minister.

The budget, which is based on 3.4 million barrels of oil, threatens to deduct from the autonomous region's share of 17 percent if the KRG fails to export 400,000 barrels of oil per day and merge its revenue with that of the rest of Iraq.

“The rights of KRG and the dues of oil companies operating in Kurdistan is not mentioned in the budget,” said Khalid Shwani, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament.

In a press conference in Baghdad, Roj Nuri Shawais, Iraq’s deputy prime minister said, “The Iraqi government didn’t take into account the Kurdistan Region’s views on the budget, therefore we criticized and didn’t vote for it.”

Shawani said that Baghdad has ignored the needs of the Iraqi people and that “it uses the budget for political goals.”

According to Shwani, the budget also violates the rights of other oil-producing provinces who are entitled to $5 per every barrel of oil exported from their areas.

“According to the law of the provinces which was amended last year, the oil producing provinces should be given $5 per barrel,” he said. “But in the 2014 budget the government insists that these provinces would be paid $1 per barrel.”

Shwani expects angry objection from these provinces against Baghdad.

Previously, governor of Basra had threatened to halt his province’s oil exports unless given $5 for each barrel. Also on Sunday Kirkuk governor Najmaldin Karim demanded the federal government to pay $5 for each barrel of oil exported from Kirkuk oilfields.

Shwani said that last year’s scenario is repeated where the cabinet approved the budget without the Kurds’ consent and later approved by parliament.

“Its hard for this issue to be solved in parliament,” Shwani maintained. “The issue is related to two governments. It’s both political and technical and the governments can decide on them. MPs are not aware of the details of these issues and they cannot decide politically on this.”

Shwani’s statement rings true given the fact that Kurdish MPs will stand against the bill and the Sunni-majority Iraqiya bloc has already withdrawn from parliament.