“He gave us the promise to resolve the issues of the people's livelihoods, sending salaries, farmers’ payments, and the issues of the airports soon and as soon as possible. That he did not do these puts a question mark on the honesty of the prime minister,” Xanim Rahim, a leader in Barham Salih’s newly founded Coalition for Justice and Democracy (CDJ), told Rudaw.
Rahim was a member of the delegation that visited Abadi on January 4. Rahim claimed Abadi wants to punish the people in this way, and that is deeply frustrating for them.
“Some of these issues pertain to the elections time. The timing of the elections has made a particular party, either Baghdad or Abadi, fearful of their voters,” Aras Wali, member of Gorran’s National Council, told Rudaw.
Wali posits that this is not a good justification for Abadi, but that it also reflects the unhealthy atmosphere in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
Iraqi and Kurdish politicians have both criticized Abadi and claim he is trying to bolster his election campaign. Abadi has vowed to pay the salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s employees more than once.
Committees have been sent to the Kurdistan Region for auditing the payrolls of the public employees, a procedure Abadi says is aimed for eliminating corruption in the Kurdistan Region.
“I believe if Kurdistan can manage itself with the revenues it has, then we should abandon Iraq and make our own decision and administer and manage ourselves,” Dara Mohammed Amin, a former Komal Leadership member told Rudaw.
He added that if that is not feasible, then the oil and revenues the Kurdistan Region has should be handed over to Iraq to come up with an agreement that guarantees the rights of the Kurdistan Region.
In a press conference on Wednesday, PUK spokesperson Saadi Ahmad Pira criticized Abadi for his lack of commitment to his promises and added that no agreement is possible with him because as the PM makes a promise or says something today, he reneges from it tomorrow.
Abadi announced that they have reached an agreement with the Kurdistan Region to export Kirkuk’s oil through the KRG-controlled pipeline.
He said that the Kurdistan Region must allow the resumption of oil exports from Kirkuk for the KRG to receive its share of the Iraqi budget for 2018.
"You [the KRG] need money now, if you don't export the Kirkuk oil, you won't receive the revenue," Abadi said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
Days before Iraq extended the flight ban on the Kurdistan Region’s international airports by three more months, a decision described by Masrour Barzani, national security advisor of the Kurdistan Region, as political rather than technical.
