Iraq
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (right) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani (left) in Baghdad on September 14, 2023. Photo: KRG
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A high-level delegation from the KRG is in Baghdad to defend the Region’s constitutional rights, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani who is leading the delegation, said on Thursday, with the visit focusing on Erbil’s disputed share of the federal budget.
“Our aim is simple: defend the constitutional rights of the people in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,” Barzani said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The delegation, which besides Barzani, includes the Kurdistan Region’s finance and interior ministers, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, met with senior Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani amid a deepening crisis between the KRG and the federal government on a number of outstanding issues, especially the Region’s disputed share of the budget.
During the meeting, Barzani and Sudani stressed “the need to find a solution to the legal and financial problems between the federal government and the regional government in accordance with the constitution,” said a statement from Sudani’s office.
The Iraqi government “is still working to ensure that requirements for decent living standards for Iraqi citizens are not affected, including the citizens of the Region,” the statement added.
Prime Minister @masrourbarzani has landed in Baghdad for a marathon of meetings aimed at resolving the dispute over the KRG's share of the federal budget.
— Aziz Ahmad (@azizkahmad) September 14, 2023
It's a big team, with high hopes. There are ten meetings confirmed on the schedule, lasting until around midnight. #Iraq
The Iraqi parliament in June passed its highly-contentious budget bill for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, of which the Kurdistan Region’s share is 12.6 percent. However, budget issues between both governments have not been resolved as Erbil continues to blame Baghdad for not sending the required funds to pay the Region’s civil servants.
Meetings between delegations of the KRG and the federal government have been ongoing over the past months, aimed at resolving lingering disputes over the Region’s share in the federal budget.
Earlier this month, Baghdad decided to send 500 billion Iraqi dinars ($320 million) for the salaries of the public servants of the Region as a loan. The Kurdish government has yet to accept the offer, saying that the amount is insufficient as it needs 940 billion Iraqi dinars ($602 million) to pay its civil servants.
On Thursday, the US Consulate in Erbil urged the KRG and the Iraqi federal government to resolve the budget issues in accordance with the constitution.
“We continue to urge the Government of Iraq and KRG officials to resolve their budget disputes in a manner that benefits Iraqi citizens, as the Iraqi constitution requires,” a spokesperson for the US Consulate told Rudaw in an email.
Sudani on Monday claimed that there is no clause in the Iraqi federal budget which asks the federal government to provide the salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s public servants.
Economic woes in the Kurdistan Region have worsened in recent months after Turkey suspended the flow of Kurdish crude oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to its Ceyhan port in March following a ruling from a Paris arbitration court, causing the KRG billions of dollars in losses.
Several meetings have been held between Iraqi and Turkish delegations since March, aimed at resuming the flow of crude oil from the Kurdistan Region. The meetings, however, have not yielded any results.
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