The Iraqi parliament on Monday passed all articles of the federal budget for the years of 2023, 2024, and 2025 after four days of trial-and-error as well as political wrangling between the Kurdish and Shiite lawmakers and within the Kurdish blocs themselves.
Numerous Articles in the budget bill have been deemed by the Kurdish parties, mainly the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), to be detrimental to the political entity and independence of the Kurdistan Region.
“What we saw during the budget discussion is deeply worrying and once again proved the fact that the division of the Kurdish sides harms the Kurdistan Region,” said President Barzani in a statement.
The Kurdish president welcomed the passing of the budget, but said that the behavior of some of the lawmakers against the rights of the Kurdistan Region was “unfortunate” and did not match the political agreements reached between the parties of the Running the State Coalition.
Barzani said that the budget must ensure that the Kurdistan Region’s status as a constitutional political entity is considered and the rights and financial entitlements of its people are provided, calling on the Kurdish parties to use this experience to bolster their ties.
“We can use this as an opportunity to strengthen the trust between us, better reorganize the situation within our own camp, deescalate tensions and resolve our issues in order to further strengthen Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” he added.
Paragraph seven of Article 14 of the bill stipulates that in case of any dispute between the Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi government, a joint committee will meet within 30 days to reach a solution. The paragraph caused a lot of tension, as Shiite parliamentarians wanted to amend it so that the Kurdistan Region’s budget share would be cut if a solution was not reached in 15 days.
The KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) also disagreed over an additional paragraph to the same Article, requested by the latter, which grants provinces of the Region the power to apply for separate funds from the Iraqi Prime Minister if the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) fails to prioritize paying public servant salaries and distribute funds fairly among the provinces.
Included in the budget is a record $152 billion in spending, 12.6 percent of which is allocated for the Kurdistan Region. The bill is set to be sent to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid for approval on Tuesday.
