President Barzani arrived in Baghdad on Saturday, marking his second trip to the Iraqi capital in a month. He has held meetings with Iraq’s top officials and politicians, including Prime Minister Mohammaed Shia’ al-Sudani and President Abdul Latif Rashid since the first day of his visit.
“Today, Kurdistan Region President’s meetings continue,” Dilshad Shahab, Kurdistan Region Presidency spokesperson, told Rudaw on Monday, adding that the talks have mostly focused on the payment of Kurdistan Region’s civil servants’ salaries and the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections.
The Kurdistan Region is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on June 10, after two years of delays. The current date could be jeopardized by the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) decision not to participate in protest over court rulings that the party deemed detrimental to the Region’s political entity, including the removal of minority quota seats.
“There is nothing threatening civil servants’ salaries. The salary issue will be resolved and this assurance will be delivered to the salaried employees in the near future,” Shahab told reporters in the Iraqi capital on Sunday.
The visit comes against the backdrop of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s trip to Washington and a deadly drone strike on key oil and gas infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region.
Late Monday, Barzani held his second bilateral meeting with Sudani since Saturday, reported Rudaw reporter on the ground.
