KRG to convene early on salary cuts amid anti-government protests

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has decided to convene on Wednesday to discuss making changes to the widely unpopular salary-saving system. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday.

The KRG’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, announced by a  spokesperson, comes as anti-government protests demanding an end to  the salary-cut system continued in several Kurdish cities on Tuesday,  including in Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimani.

It also comes as a member of the Kurdistan parliament reported that  his convoy was attacked in Duhok province, while another warned  against the use of force to end the protests.

“Down with thieves,” hundreds of protesters chanted in Sulaimani,  where they set up tents in front of the city’s main court.

“The solidarity day for Erbil and Duhok,” a white banner with red  lettering read on one of the tents, making reference to rare  anti-government protests in the two cities where schools and hospitals  are still functioning despite protests by some public employees, who  vow to boycott work until the KRG ends the salary cuts.

Soran Omar, an MP from the Islamic Group (Komal), who is also the head  of the human rights committee, said the authorities in Erbil and Duhok  have used “force” against protesters.

He claimed that more than 20,000 members of the security forces were  deployed on the streets of Erbil and Duhok, some wearing “civilian  clothing,” to prevent protests.

Omar’s party, Komal, said two of their senior members, an MP and a  politburo member, were harassed in Erbil, and the head of the party’s  faction in the Erbil Provincial Council was arrested.

Komal withdrew from the KRG coalition government late last year  together with Gorran, later followed by the Kurdistan Islamic Union  (KIU).

Dindar Zebari, a KRG official, earlier in the day, said authorities arrested a number  of illegal protesters who held gatherings without a permit from the  Kurdish government. Some of them are charged with inciting violence.

He said the right to protest is protected by law in the Kurdistan Region.

Ali Hama Salih, a Gorran MP who was beaten on Monday in Zakho while  trying to gather support for the protests, said he visited Shiladze on  Tuesday.

Zakho and Shiladze are located in Duhok, a stronghold of the ruling Kurdistan  Democratic Party (KDP).

He posted a video claiming to show a group of stone-throwing men  attack his convoy while visiting Shiladze.

He said he contacted security forces in the area, but it did not help  prevent the attack.

“The security institutions carried out this [attack],” he said on  Facebook, vowing to visit more places in support of the  anti-government protests.

A teacher was injured in Shiladze in the protests. Videos and images  shared on social media show a man injured with blood on his face.

At least one teacher was injured during clashes between riot police  and protesters in Duhok city. The teacher filed a complaint against  three police officers, one protest organizer told Rudaw.

A spokesperson for Duhok police denied it had injured any of the  protests, claiming two of its police officers were injured while  dealing with the protests.

Anti-government protests, whose main call is the full payment of wages  to teachers and health workers, started on March 19 in several Kurdish  cities.

The KRG in 2016 introduced the salary cuts as part of austerity  measures to control the ongoing financial crisis caused primarily by  the budget cut by the Iraqi government and a drop in oil prices.

The Kurdish government is now scheduled to make changes to gradually  reduce the salary cut in light of the extra cash injection received by  the Iraqi government earlier this month.

It was the Baghdad cash that triggered the wave of protests this time around. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi promised on several  occasions to allocate the payment exclusively to public teachers and health workers. But it was then revealed that both Erbil and Baghdad have agreed to distribute the money to pay all KRG salary takers.

“We will no longer accept the salary saving system,” Abdullah Mohammed, an organizer of the striking health workers, told Rudaw when asked whether they plan to end their walkout if the KRG reduces the percentage of the salary cuts by 10 to 30 percent.

The majority of hospitals are on strike in Sulaimani and Halabja  provinces. Shorish is the only hospital functioning in Sulaimani city.