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Shafaq News
2 days ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
Kurdistan's salary crisis escalates ahead of Eid
Shafaq News/As Eid al-Adha approaches, more than a million public servants in Iraq's Kurdistan Region face yet another holiday without salaries—caught in the crosshairs of a deepening standoff between Baghdad and Erbil that underscores unresolved constitutional, political, and economic rifts. The Iraqi government recently suspended salary payments for May 2025, accusing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of failing to deliver oil and non-oil revenues as mandated by the federal budget law and a Federal Supreme Court ruling. The Ministry of Finance warned of legal action to hold the KRG accountable, laying blame squarely on Erbil for disrupting monthly payments and social welfare programs. The row has intensified following the KRG's announcement of two major energy deals with American firms worth over $110 billion to develop gas and oil infrastructure in the Region. Baghdad views these agreements as violations of its sovereign authority, while Erbil insists the contracts fall within its constitutional right to enhance local revenues and diversify the Region's economic base. Responding to the federal decision, the KRG's Ministry of Finance and Economy said Baghdad owes Erbil over 4.22 trillion dinars (about $3B) and has yet to release the remaining 9.11 trillion dinars (around $6.5B) of Kurdistan's 2025 allocation. Kurdish officials argue that Baghdad's revenue calculations ignore the KRG's operational expenses and the local funds used to cover salary gaps. They also point to the federal government's failure to compensate victims of the Anfal genocide, which they say adds to long-standing grievances. 'The federal government is trying to create unconstitutional roadblocks,' the KRG stated, citing a February 2025 ruling by the Federal Supreme Court directing Baghdad to disburse salaries directly to Kurdish employees regardless of political disagreements. Erbil has framed the latest salary freeze as a political tactic that targets ordinary citizens and threatens regional stability. Since 2014, salary payments to the Kurdistan Region have shifted from fixed budget allocations to ad hoc 'emergency advances' subject to Baghdad's oversight. Each budget cycle has become a flashpoint for constitutional disputes, driven by the absence of a federal oil and gas law since 2007 and competing interpretations of revenue-sharing rules. For many Kurdish families, the result is a familiar cycle of uncertainty and hardship. Despite multiple court rulings, federal disbursements remain entangled in political maneuvering. Jamal Kocher, a Kurdish member of Iraq's financial committee, criticized Baghdad's decision as 'poorly timed and unjust,' warning that it effectively punishes over 1.2 million employees who are uninvolved in high-level political disputes. Kocher stressed that 'a series of steps must be taken to resolve this issue,' urging Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 'respond to Iraqi citizens in a manner that promotes fairness. It is unacceptable for employees in Iraq to receive their salaries while those in the Kurdistan Region face cuts.' He also emphasized the need to engage the Federal Supreme Court to take further decisions on the matter. Political analyst Hamza Mustafa described the crisis as a symptom of deeper institutional dysfunction. 'The salary crisis is just the tip of the iceberg,' he said. 'The deeper issue is Iraq's failure to pass an oil and gas law for nearly two decades. As always, it's the citizens who pay the price.' The United States has called for calm, urging both Baghdad and Erbil to resolve the standoff through dialogue and constitutional mechanisms. A US State Department official told Shafaq News in an exclusive statement, 'A swift resolution will show that Iraq is prioritizing its citizens' welfare and create an environment attractive to investors.' He added that resolving the crisis could also signal readiness to reopen the suspended Iraq-Turkiye oil pipeline. This appeal follows recent high-level meetings in Washington, where KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials. The salary freeze comes at a delicate moment in Iraqi-Kurdish relations. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani faces competing pressures: demands from political blocs in Baghdad to assert federal control, and calls from international partners to ensure stability and fair treatment for the Kurds. Analysts believe al-Sudani is keen to avoid further escalation ahead of the holidays, with back-channel negotiations possibly underway to explore temporary fixes. However, without structural reforms—such as the long-stalled oil and gas legislation—many fear the cycle of crisis, court rulings, and emergency payments will continue to define Baghdad-Erbil relations. With public frustration mounting and Eid just days away, all eyes are now on whether Baghdad and Erbil can move beyond legal sparring to reach a sustainable fiscal settlement—or whether yet another round of crisis budgeting awaits the Kurdistan Region.
Shafaq News
2 days ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
Ruling clarifies: Federal-KRG disputes cannot impede salary payments
Shafaq News/ On Friday, Iraq's Federal Supreme Court ruled that disputes between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cannot be used as grounds to delay or suspend salary payments, KRG Cabinet Secretary Amanj Raheem disclosed. Quoting a February ruling, Raheem highlighted that disagreements over Articles 12 and 13 of the 2023 Federal Budget Law—relating to oil exports and non-oil revenues—must not obstruct monthly payments to employees, retirees, and welfare recipients in the Kurdistan Region. 'This decision reaffirms the court's stance on insulating citizens' livelihoods from political conflict,' Raheem, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, said in a statement. Earlier, Parliamentary Finance Committee member Raed al-Maliki confirmed that the Ministry of Finance halted salary disbursements to the KRG, citing the Region's failure to transfer required oil and non-oil revenues to the federal treasury, despite the KRG receiving its entitlements. The KRG Ministry of Finance rejected the justification, asserting that Baghdad is constitutionally obliged to continue salary payments to civil servants, retirees, and beneficiaries of the social safety net. It also criticized the federal government for neglecting reparations to survivors of the Anfal campaign and chemical attacks, calling such omissions a breach of duty. In response, the federal Finance Ministry published data indicating that the KRG exceeded its designated budget share by failing to submit full oil and non-oil income, with joint reports from the federal and regional audit bureaus substantiating the findings, leading to the suspension of transfers. The salary dispute comes amid deeper budgetary tensions between Baghdad and Erbil. Since oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through Turkiye's Ceyhan port were suspended in 2023, the federal government shifted to issuing monthly loans instead of direct budget payments. Despite court intervention, the funding impasse continues, with both sides accusing each other of failing to meet their fiscal responsibilities under the national budget law.
Shafaq News
3 days ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
Iraq-KRG salary row escalates: Baghdad cites revenue holdout
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, Iraq's federal finance ministry attributed its inability to fund May 2025 salaries in the Kurdistan Region to the Regional government's failure to transfer oil and non-oil revenues to the state treasury. In a statement, the ministry explained that funding had been allocated in accordance with the Kurdistan Region's quota under the federal budget law. However, the Regional government's decision to withhold its revenues caused expenditures to exceed the limits set by both the budget law and a ruling by the Federal Supreme Court. The ministry noted that this overextension obliges it to take legal steps, as required by the court's decision and the provisions of the current three-year federal budget. Despite the dispute, federal authorities reassured the public that they remain committed to timely wage disbursements. Salaries for May were fully covered for all eligible recipients, it confirmed, with funding secured independently of both oil and non-oil revenue borrowing. Jamal Kocher, a member of the parliamentary finance committee, questioned with Shafaq News the timing and suitability of the ministry's decision, warning that more than 1.2 million public employees in the Kurdistan Region would be directly affected. In response, the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Finance and Economy called on the federal government to continue disbursing salaries for civil servants, retirees, families of martyrs, Anfal victims, and social welfare recipients, on par with the rest of Iraq. The ministry also urged Baghdad to avoid introducing what it described as 'unconstitutional barriers to the salary funding process''. Notably, the salary dispute between Baghdad and the KRG has remained unresolved for years, re-emerging during each annual budget cycle. The federal government conditions the transfer of the Region's budget share on the handover of oil revenues—a process that stalled in 2023 after exports through Turkiye's Ceyhan port came to a halt. Since then, salary payments from Baghdad have been treated as advances rather than regular allocations. In February, the Federal Supreme Court issued a binding decision requiring the federal government to pay public sector salaries in the Kurdistan Region directly, bypassing the KRG. The ruling came after repeated delays in disbursing wages to the Region's employees.
Iraqi News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court receives British Ambassador
Baghdad-INA Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court, Judge Jassim Mohammed Abboud, affirmed on Wednesday that the Constitution guarantees the rights and freedoms of Iraqis, including voting, elections, and candidacy. A statement from the court, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), stated that "Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court, Judge Jassim Mohammed Abboud, received the British Ambassador Irfan Siddiq and his accompanying delegation in his office at the Federal Supreme Court." It pointed out that "during the meeting, the need to strengthen joint cooperation in all fields between the Republic of Iraq and the United Kingdom, particularly in the field of constitutional justice, was addressed." The Chief Justice emphasized that, "Despite the difficulties facing Iraq, the 2005 Constitution of the Republic of Iraq, as a document of the Iraqi people that may not be violated for any reason, has established the fundamental principles of sound democratic construction, with the goal of achieving popular democracy and realizing the principle of the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the Constitution." It added, "Iraq is about to hold general elections for the next parliamentary term, and the measure of the success of the elections depends on the real level of popular participation." It explained that "the Constitution guarantees the public and private rights and freedoms of the Iraqi people, including the right to vote, elect, and run for office, it is prohibited to infringe upon or influence these constitutional rights by any party or for any reason, leading to the building of a strong civil state based on national identity and transcending sectarian, ethnic, and interest-based quotas." He continued, "The Constitution also requires the preservation of public funds and the prevention of encroachment upon them, in accordance with Article (27), given that public funds are sacred and their protection is the duty of every citizen. It is prohibited to use such funds for illegitimate purposes." For his part, the British Ambassador affirmed that "his country is keen to cooperate with the State of Iraq in all areas, including cooperation to achieve the constitutional goals of sound democratic construction, the preservation of public funds, and the rule of law."
Shafaq News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Kurdistan Parliament's 6th term faces Federal court challenge
Shafaq News/ Iraq's Federal Supreme Court will convene on July 6 to hear a lawsuit disputing the legality of the Kurdistan Region Parliament's sixth term. Kurdistan Justice Group lawmaker Omar Gulpi confirmed, in a statement, that the case, filed under No. 88/Federal/2025, demands the annulment of the current term, a new election date from the Independent High Electoral Commission, and the return of salaries paid to 97 MPs who have not performed any legislative duties. 'The chamber has been inactive since members were sworn in six months ago. No speaker has been elected, and the body remains without leadership,' Gulpi noted, highlighting that each MP continues to receive 8.2M IQD per month (about $6,300) during the deadlock. The Kurdistan Justice Group, which holds three seats, has rejected the current assembly's legitimacy, accusing the authorities of manipulating the electoral process. One of its lawmakers, Hero Attar, took the oath of office but later withdrew from the party's bloc in protest.
