Iraqi parliament resumed its session late Saturday night to vote on the remaining articles of the federal budget bill, starting with a reading of the disputed article 14, which is related to the Kurdistan Region’s managing of its oil income.
The lawmakers disagreed over paragraph seven of the Article, which stipulates that in case of a disagreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government, the share of the KRG in the budget will be suspended if a joint committee does not reach a solution within 30 days. Shiite legislators sought to amend the paragraph and reduce the duration to 15 days.
On Saturday, Fuad Hussein, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) delegation and Iraqi Foreign Minister, told reporters that an agreement was reached regarding paragraph seven of the article without providing further details.
Another disagreement arose between the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over an additional eighth paragraph to the article. The KDP says the paragraph divides and weakens the Kurdistan Region, while the PUK argues it guarantees that none of the Region’s provinces will be withheld from their share of the budget.
The additional text states that the KRG must commit to giving priority to the financial merits, salaries and wages of the public servants, as well as committing to the expenditure of the fund of investments in the provinces. Otherwise, the Iraqi the prime minister would take specific measures to send the financial entitlements directly to the provinces.
Sipan Sherwani, a KDP MP in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw that they were shocked by the added paragraph to the Article, and the way the text is written might bear different interpretations.
“If the PUK’s interpretation is right, then it is unconstitutional and we will appeal to the federal court,” he said.
Khalid Shwani, head of the PUK delegation, said the extra entry to the Article commits the KRG to prioritizing the payment of the salaries of the public servants and pensioners of the Kurdistan Region ,as well as spending the investment funds for the provinces. In case of unequal sharing between the provinces, the Iraqi prime minister would have to take necessary action, which includes directly financing the provinces.
“This is not division or a problem for the Kurdistan Region entity, it is a guarantee, if there is not justice then the Iraqi government will intervene,” said Shwani, in response to the claims that the said paragraph would weaken the Kurdistan Region.
“The federal court exists [if they have an issue], the federal court is where they can appeal, and it can decide whether it is lawful or not,” he added.
Early Sunday morning, the Iraqi parliament passed 17 articles of the federal budget bill. Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi adjourned the session to 1 pm Sunday afternoon to vote on other matters unrelated to the Region.
