PUK rejects public servant pay cuts aimed at mitigating economic crisis
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) dismissed plans from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to cope with the daunting economic crisis by reducing salaries of public servants for the month of June.
"We disagree with the decision of reducing the salaries of civil servants," the party's outlet PUKMEDIA quoted an unnamed leadership member as saying shortly after the government announced the move.
"The PUK politburo will study this development to find a mechanism to reflect the interests of the people of Kurdistan," the leadership member said.
The PUK is the second largest political party in the Kurdistan Region, holding six ministerial positions and the deputy prime minister post in the Regional government.
The KRG announced plans on Sunday night to reduce the salaries and allowances of higher-earning government employees.
Employees whose salaries are under the 300,000 Iraqi dinars ($251) per month mark will be unaffected, while those above the mark will see their paychecks cut by 21 percent, the KRG said in an official statement following a cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. The salaries of senior KRG employees will be reduced by 50 percent.
According to the KRG statement, the measure is only “temporary” affecting salaries for the month of June, expressing hopes that negotiations with Baghdad would result in an agreement to resume paying public workers’ salaries in full.
A Kurdistan Demcratic Party (KDP) MP strongly criticized the PUK's stance agaisnt the government's movement, describing the party of having "double-standards."
Peshawa Hawramani said in a Facebook post Monday highlighted that all the parties in government agreed to the salary cut decision, including the PUK's ministers and the deputy prime minister.
To resolve the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad, President of Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, arrived in Baghdad on Saturday, where he met with Iraqi official and Shiite political leaders to discuss the ongoing economic crisis and relations between the two governments.
Iraq’s central government halted budget transfers to the KRG at the start of this year under the-caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, as Baghdad accused Erbil of failing to send oil in exchange for its share of the federal budget – an arrangement agreed in December.
"We disagree with the decision of reducing the salaries of civil servants," the party's outlet PUKMEDIA quoted an unnamed leadership member as saying shortly after the government announced the move.
"The PUK politburo will study this development to find a mechanism to reflect the interests of the people of Kurdistan," the leadership member said.
The PUK is the second largest political party in the Kurdistan Region, holding six ministerial positions and the deputy prime minister post in the Regional government.
The KRG announced plans on Sunday night to reduce the salaries and allowances of higher-earning government employees.
Employees whose salaries are under the 300,000 Iraqi dinars ($251) per month mark will be unaffected, while those above the mark will see their paychecks cut by 21 percent, the KRG said in an official statement following a cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. The salaries of senior KRG employees will be reduced by 50 percent.
According to the KRG statement, the measure is only “temporary” affecting salaries for the month of June, expressing hopes that negotiations with Baghdad would result in an agreement to resume paying public workers’ salaries in full.
A Kurdistan Demcratic Party (KDP) MP strongly criticized the PUK's stance agaisnt the government's movement, describing the party of having "double-standards."
Peshawa Hawramani said in a Facebook post Monday highlighted that all the parties in government agreed to the salary cut decision, including the PUK's ministers and the deputy prime minister.
Iraq’s central government halted budget transfers to the KRG at the start of this year under the-caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, as Baghdad accused Erbil of failing to send oil in exchange for its share of the federal budget – an arrangement agreed in December.