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Iraq
Masrour Barzani at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, United States on July 28, 2017. Photo: Samuel Corum / AA
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani slammed Iraq’s parliament on Saturday, after the legislative body passed a funding deficit law that experts say would cripple the autonomous region’s already-struggling economy.
“Kurdistan’s share of federal revenues isn’t a privilege; it’s a right. As I’ve said in the past, the relationship between Erbil and Baghdad should be based on recognizing each other’s rights and duties under the constitution,” said Barzani in a tweet.
“This dangerous precedent must quickly be reversed. We have an opening still to correct this injustice,” he added.
Iraqi parliament on Thursday morning passed the Fiscal Deficit Coverage Bill, which allows Baghdad to borrow 12 trillion Iraqi dinars ($10 billion) from the Central Bank in an attempt to cover the fiscal deficit and pay civil servants.
While the emergency borrowing legislation passed in a majority vote, Kurdish MPs stormed out of the session over the requirement for the Kurdistan Region to hand over an unspecified amount of oil revenue to Baghdad in return for its monthly share of the federal budget.
The new law will allow for the unquestioning payment of civil servants from all Iraqi provinces aside from those in the Kurdistan Region for October and November.
Iraqi President Barham Salih, a Kurd himself, said in a statement on Friday that the passage of the law without the consent of Kurds is a “dangerous beginning in Iraq’s political process.”
“It is unfortunate that the law was passed without seeking a national consensus, specifically against the wish of Kurds,” he said.
“The payment of the salaries of civil servants in Iraq, without resolving the [issue of] the salaries of the [Kurdistan] Region’s civil servants is an incomplete work because they are Iraqi too and their rights are mentioned in the constitution,” he added.
Experts have noted that should the bill’s implementation would be an “economic suicide pill for the KRG.”
“The new law would increase the KRG deficit to a crushing 73% and leave Kurdish officials far short of meeting their most important obligations: the $710 million in monthly salary and social security payments,” noted Michael Knights, an Iraq analyst and senior fellow at the Washington Institute.
The KRG has failed to pay its civil servants on time or in full for months, after suffering financial difficulties with the drop of oil prices, the spread of coronavirus, in addition to the cut of its budget share from Baghdad. Kurdish officials have openly said they cannot pay civil servants without money from the federal government.
Though, Erbil and Baghdad reached a temporary deal last summer that commits the federal government to sending 320 billion dinars ($268 million) per month in order for the KRG to pay its civil servants for August, September, and October, the two sides have not yet been able to cement a once-and-for-all agreement over the budget and oil.
The three presidencies of the Kurdistan Region - the President, PM and speaker of parliament - are scheduled to meet with Kurdish parliamentarians in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss the matter. However, fifteen Kurdish opposition parliamentarians in Baghdad released a joint statement on Saturday, saying that they will not be attending the meeting.
They said that Erbil must sign a “new, all-inclusive, transparent and concrete agreement” with Baghdad “based on constitution rather than personal and partisan relations.” They accused the KRG of failing to implement any “real reform” in its salary payroll and eradicating corruption.
Bashir Haddad, deputy speaker of Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw late Friday that President Salih can amend the law, but it may take time.
Salih can “send an amended version of the law or part of it to the parliament. Since the amendment would include a financial aspect, it should be sent to the government which has to meet and make a decision. Then, the government has to send an amended version of the law to the parliament. This may take a long time, so it is not practical,” said the Kurdish official.
“As per the constitution and the Federal Court, the President of the Republic does not have the authority to reject this law. He can only sign it. If he does not sign it after 15 days, it will be regarded as signed,” he added.
“Kurdistan’s share of federal revenues isn’t a privilege; it’s a right. As I’ve said in the past, the relationship between Erbil and Baghdad should be based on recognizing each other’s rights and duties under the constitution,” said Barzani in a tweet.
“This dangerous precedent must quickly be reversed. We have an opening still to correct this injustice,” he added.
Iraqi parliament on Thursday morning passed the Fiscal Deficit Coverage Bill, which allows Baghdad to borrow 12 trillion Iraqi dinars ($10 billion) from the Central Bank in an attempt to cover the fiscal deficit and pay civil servants.
While the emergency borrowing legislation passed in a majority vote, Kurdish MPs stormed out of the session over the requirement for the Kurdistan Region to hand over an unspecified amount of oil revenue to Baghdad in return for its monthly share of the federal budget.
The new law will allow for the unquestioning payment of civil servants from all Iraqi provinces aside from those in the Kurdistan Region for October and November.
Iraqi President Barham Salih, a Kurd himself, said in a statement on Friday that the passage of the law without the consent of Kurds is a “dangerous beginning in Iraq’s political process.”
“It is unfortunate that the law was passed without seeking a national consensus, specifically against the wish of Kurds,” he said.
“The payment of the salaries of civil servants in Iraq, without resolving the [issue of] the salaries of the [Kurdistan] Region’s civil servants is an incomplete work because they are Iraqi too and their rights are mentioned in the constitution,” he added.
Experts have noted that should the bill’s implementation would be an “economic suicide pill for the KRG.”
“The new law would increase the KRG deficit to a crushing 73% and leave Kurdish officials far short of meeting their most important obligations: the $710 million in monthly salary and social security payments,” noted Michael Knights, an Iraq analyst and senior fellow at the Washington Institute.
The KRG has failed to pay its civil servants on time or in full for months, after suffering financial difficulties with the drop of oil prices, the spread of coronavirus, in addition to the cut of its budget share from Baghdad. Kurdish officials have openly said they cannot pay civil servants without money from the federal government.
Though, Erbil and Baghdad reached a temporary deal last summer that commits the federal government to sending 320 billion dinars ($268 million) per month in order for the KRG to pay its civil servants for August, September, and October, the two sides have not yet been able to cement a once-and-for-all agreement over the budget and oil.
The three presidencies of the Kurdistan Region - the President, PM and speaker of parliament - are scheduled to meet with Kurdish parliamentarians in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss the matter. However, fifteen Kurdish opposition parliamentarians in Baghdad released a joint statement on Saturday, saying that they will not be attending the meeting.
They said that Erbil must sign a “new, all-inclusive, transparent and concrete agreement” with Baghdad “based on constitution rather than personal and partisan relations.” They accused the KRG of failing to implement any “real reform” in its salary payroll and eradicating corruption.
Bashir Haddad, deputy speaker of Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw late Friday that President Salih can amend the law, but it may take time.
Salih can “send an amended version of the law or part of it to the parliament. Since the amendment would include a financial aspect, it should be sent to the government which has to meet and make a decision. Then, the government has to send an amended version of the law to the parliament. This may take a long time, so it is not practical,” said the Kurdish official.
“As per the constitution and the Federal Court, the President of the Republic does not have the authority to reject this law. He can only sign it. If he does not sign it after 15 days, it will be regarded as signed,” he added.
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