Iraqi PM, parliamentary blocs file budget appeals at Federal Court

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The 2021 budget law may be implemented within a month, according to a member of the parliament’s finance committee, but there are several efforts to make changes to the contentious legislation. 

The budget may be activated by the end of Ramadan, finance committee member Abd al-Hadi al-Saadawi said on Friday, except for some articles that are under appeal at the Federal Court.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is appealing some cuts to funding for the electricity and health sectors.

"The Parliament has removed articles related to the maintenance programs of the electrical system and others related to development of the health sector,” Mudher Muhammad Salih, Kadhimi’s advisor for financial affairs, told Rudaw English on Thursday.

Salih explained that the government can go to the Federal Court to raise objections about additions or deletions to the budget made by the parliament, similar to what happened in 2015 and 2016.

Some parliamentary blocs are filed appeals to five other articles in the budget, according to Saadawi. These include the dollar exchange rate, Article 11 which dictates the Kurdistan Region’s share of federal funds, and an article about "tribal compensations."

“Approximately 9 billion dinars were budgeted for the Sunni endowment fund to settle tribal disputes in areas that were destroyed by Islamic State [ISIS],” Saadawi said.

Shiite lawmakers are unhappy with the Kurdistan Region’s share and Erbil’s independent oil sales. Disputes over Article 11 were one of the main factors delaying a parliamentary vote on the budget. 

The Iraqi parliament passed the Federal Budget Law in late March after months of debate between political parties, multiple delays to the vote, and whittling down the deficit.