Iraq passes 2017 budget bill; Kurdish parties at odds over benefits
MPs in Baghdad approved the 100.67 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $85 billion) budget, based on projections of an oil price of $42 per barrel. It forecast a deficit of 21.7 trillion dinars ($19 billion) and spending of 100.7 trillion dinars.
The two main Kurdish parties voiced different views of the budget bill, with an MP from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) slamming it as containing nothing good for the Kurds and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) hailing its role in the making of the budget as “a valuable achievement.”
“The budget bill does not contain any achievements for Kurds and the Kurdistan Region,” said Arafat Karam, an Iraqi MP from the KDP. “Unfortunately, the Kurdish factions -- for their political biddings and media attention -- voted for the worst bill.” He was voicing what has been the position of the KDP, which boycotted Sunday's parliament session in Baghdad when some articles of the bill were agreed.
The bill passed after three voting sessions, though some articles related to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were accepted by MPs earlier this week, with some Kurdish MPs also voting in favor.
On Tuesday, the KRG issued a statement sharply criticizing the articles relating to Kurdistan.
This is “a dangerous political conspiracy against the Kurdistan Region and unfortunately those Kurdish MPs who voted in favor committed a dangerous act, whether or not they knew about this,” it said.
“They (Kurdish MPs) voted against the public interests of the Kurdistan Region and its employees, without considering that this was not in the interest of the public,” it added, disclosing that the KRG had provided the Kurdish MPs with “important information” beforehand.
The Iraqi parliament on Sunday accepted a proposal submitted by the PUK and two other Kurdish parties to consider paying the salaries of more than half a million Kurdish civil servants in the budget bill, in return for 550,000 barrels of oil from Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region’s oilfields.
The proposal outlined that 250,000 barrels per day of oil from the KRG oilfields and 300,000 bpd from Kirkuk should be exported through Iraq’s state-owned company (SOMO). In return, Baghdad would send the salaries of 650,000 Kurdish civil servants.
“As we announce this valuable achievement at such a challenging economic and political situation, we ask political parties involved in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to turn this step into an opportunity to provide prosperity and well-being for all the groups and parties of Kurdistan,” the PUK said in a statement on Wednesday.
In Tuesday’s statement, the KRG said that the numbers contained in the bill do not add up in favor of Kurdistan. It explained that the financial commitments contained in the draft in favor of Kurdistan are less than what Erbil earns on its own.
“The entitlement of the Kurdistan Region in the legislation is not equal to what the KRG obtains from selling oil and domestic incomes,” the statement said.
The KRG and Baghdad have had a long row over oil sales. Erbil says it has the constitutional right to sell Kurdish oil itself, while Baghdad insists all crude sales should be made through the central government.