ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Disputed issues between Erbil and Baghdad must not be used as election propaganda, an Iraqi presidential advisor told Rudaw, stressing that the president’s office will not allow it.
“The issues of budget and salary should never be allowed to be exploited for election propaganda. There are people claiming that the salaries may not be sent until after the elections. But this is unacceptable; we will work to resolve it,” Dr. Farhad Aladdin, Iraqi presidential advisor, told Rudaw.
Iraqis will go to the polls on May 12. The Kurdistan Region is also due to hold elections this year, but no date has been set yet.
Aladdin noted that tensions between the Iraqi government and the KRG have eased and practical steps have been taken to resolve the issues, among them the international flight ban.
Some preliminary agreements have been reached in discussions between committees from the two governments in recent weeks.
“The agreements entail dialogue and negotiations, which are underway now. Today, a high-level delegation from Baghdad arrived in Kurdistan and they have visited the border points of Bashmakh and Raniya. The delegation included the representatives of the ministries of finances, agriculture, industry, and others,” Aladdin said.
He added that the Ministry of Oil in Iraq and the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources have begun discussions on the oil issue.
Regarding reopening the airports to international travel, Aladdin said that Baghdad and Erbil have reached an agreement, but some technical issues remain to be resolved such as sharing security information and assigning federal government employees to the airports.
Regarding Baghdad sending the KRG civil servants’ salaries, he said, “Now education and health ministries have been completed. The Peshmerga and higher education ministries have started. So there are serious steps taken. Apparently these issues need more time.”
Relations between Erbil and Baghdad that deteriorated following the independence vote and Iraq’s takeover of the disputed territories appear to have begun improving with both prime ministers asserting that talks are moving in the right direction.
“The issues of budget and salary should never be allowed to be exploited for election propaganda. There are people claiming that the salaries may not be sent until after the elections. But this is unacceptable; we will work to resolve it,” Dr. Farhad Aladdin, Iraqi presidential advisor, told Rudaw.
Iraqis will go to the polls on May 12. The Kurdistan Region is also due to hold elections this year, but no date has been set yet.
Aladdin noted that tensions between the Iraqi government and the KRG have eased and practical steps have been taken to resolve the issues, among them the international flight ban.
Some preliminary agreements have been reached in discussions between committees from the two governments in recent weeks.
“The agreements entail dialogue and negotiations, which are underway now. Today, a high-level delegation from Baghdad arrived in Kurdistan and they have visited the border points of Bashmakh and Raniya. The delegation included the representatives of the ministries of finances, agriculture, industry, and others,” Aladdin said.
He added that the Ministry of Oil in Iraq and the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources have begun discussions on the oil issue.
Regarding reopening the airports to international travel, Aladdin said that Baghdad and Erbil have reached an agreement, but some technical issues remain to be resolved such as sharing security information and assigning federal government employees to the airports.
Regarding Baghdad sending the KRG civil servants’ salaries, he said, “Now education and health ministries have been completed. The Peshmerga and higher education ministries have started. So there are serious steps taken. Apparently these issues need more time.”
Relations between Erbil and Baghdad that deteriorated following the independence vote and Iraq’s takeover of the disputed territories appear to have begun improving with both prime ministers asserting that talks are moving in the right direction.
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