US Ambassador discusses Iraq’s draft budget bill with KRG PM

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman and the KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani discussed the outstanding issues between the Kurdish and Iraqi governments including the Kurdish share of the 2018 Iraqi draft budget bill, a statement released by the KRG on Thursday read.

Ambassador Silliman, accompanied by the US Consul General Ken Gross in Erbil, was hosted by PM Barzani and other senior Kurdish officials in Erbil including Deputy PM Qubad Talabani.

The delegation discussed the latest political and security developments in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region as well as “the draft budget bill of the federal Iraq.”

The KRG has slammed the draft budget bill presented by the Iraqi government to the Iraqi parliament which decreased the share of the KRG to 12.6 percent, down from 17 percent.

The two sides also discussed the bilateral relations between Erbil and Washington with the hope to develop them in such a way that served their mutual interests.

Both sides also agreed that Erbil and Baghdad should solve their outstanding issues through dialogue based on the Iraqi constitution.

Falah Mustafa, the KRG’s Head of Foreign Relations, also attended the meeting. He was on an official visit to the US earlier this month pushing for the United States to appoint an on ground special envoy to mediate between Iraq and the KRG. The US State Department has said that such an envoy may not be needed.

The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said Erbil and Baghdad have to agree on a metric to decide the share of the Kurdish government. PM Abadi believes that the KRG should receive its fair share based on the Region’s population. The KRG agrees to depend on the population as a basis, but argues that Erbil should receive 17 percent as has been the case since the US-invasion of Iraq in 2003 until a census is conducted.

Iraq has not held a consensus since the 1980s. 

Baghdad cut the KRG’s share of the federal budget in early 2014 in response to the KRG’s plans to export oil to the international market independent of the Iraqi government.

The cash-strapped KRG lost nearly half of the oil fields it controlled since 2014 to the Iraqi forces in October when the two sides entered deadly clashes. However, It says that it is still able to pay the salaries of state employees. PM Barzani said on Monday that the moment they fail to pay the salaries, they will announce it to the Kurdish nation.

PM Abadi has said on more than one occasion that Baghdad is ready to pay the KRG state salaries after an audit has been carried out and the KRG hands over control of oil exports to the Iraqi government.

PM Barzani said they are ready to hand over the digital record of state employees collected through a biometric scheme to Baghdad. However, the KRG states the Iraqi government is not ready to receive the list, saying that Baghdad’s words are not followed by actions.

Iraq has taken a number of punitive measures against the Kurdistan Region, including the deployment of Iraqi force and their allied Iranian-backed Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi against the Kurdish forces in the disputed or Kurdistani areas such as the oil-rich Kirkuk, and also a ban on international flights to and from the Kurdistan Region. The measures were taken after the Kurdistan Region held a vote for independence that saw nearly 93 percent of the people voting to leave Iraq.

The Iraqi Federal Court cancelled the results of the Kurdish vote on November 20, but the KRG is yet to declare in clear terms whether it accepts the ruling.