BAGHDAD, Iraq-- Iraq's parliament is likely to endorse the controversial 2017 budget draft on Monday despite Kurdish factions' fierce objections, several lawmakers told Rudaw late Sunday after the voting session was postponed with dozens of MPs leaving the parliament hall in protest against the projected spending plan.
Rudaw reporter Bahman Hasan said at least 50 articles in the draft had already been approved by the lawmakers with the remaining items to be voted on later on Monday as the assembly will gather to finalize the voting session.
The $82 billion spending draft drew broad criticism from MPs of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) who boycotted a voting session on Sunday calling the draft "discriminatory."
Several lawmakers with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) also voted against the budget but did not leave the session.
"The budget fails to treat the Peshmerga forces as an Iraqi force, which have defended the sovereignty of the country, by excluding them from the budget," said PUK lawmaker Abdulaziz Hasan, who called on all Kurdish members of the Iraqi parliament to vote down the article in the draft considering military spending without any mention of the Peshmerga.
"The budget clearly takes a position in which Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi are being allocated large portion of the spending while the Kurdish Peshmerga have been completely sidelined as if they have not fought for the safety of Iraq and Kurdistan," Hasan told reporters shortly after the voting session.
The projected budget has allocated an estimated $5 billion to sustain the Hashd al-Shaabi troops which were formally legalized by the parliament last week despite protest from Sunni factions.
But the Kurdish objections concern far beyond the lack of financial support for its nearly 100,000 Peshmerga troops as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) struggles to finance the monthly wages to some 1.4 million people on its payroll, with around 730,000 of them directly employed by the KRG, while another 700,000 people have monthly payments from the Kurdish government in pensions, social protection for underprivileged families, students and payments to families of Peshmerga victims among others.
The Iraqi government has agreed to cover the wages for the KRG employees, 730,000, by monthly allocation of 317 billion Iraqi dinars, but has refused to address the second half of the KRG payroll.
In return, Baghdad has said the KRG is obliged to export 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of its produced oil in Kurdistan in addition to another 200,000 bpd from Kirkuk oil wells through the Iraqi government-owned company of SOMO.
A KRG statement on Friday slammed the budget draft and said it would not abide by it.
"The required budget to cover expenses in the Kurdistan Region with 1.4 million people on government payroll is around 880 billion Iraqi dinars," which the statement said the projected budget had failed to address.
It was unclear late on Monday whether MPs from other Kurdish factions would join the KDP boycott of the voting session, but one lawmaker said "there were other Kurdish MPs with us."
"We have asked all Kurdish factions to unite their positions in regard to financing Peshmerga forces, that is the only article that prompted our exit from the parliament hall," said Khasro Goran, head of KDP block.
Five blocks represent Kurdish voters in the Iraqi parliament with 62 seats in the 328-seat national assembly. The KDP has 25 seats, PUK 21, Change Movement (Gorran) 9, Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) 4 and the Kurdistan Islamic Society (KIS) 3 seats.
Rudaw reporter Bahman Hasan said at least 50 articles in the draft had already been approved by the lawmakers with the remaining items to be voted on later on Monday as the assembly will gather to finalize the voting session.
The $82 billion spending draft drew broad criticism from MPs of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) who boycotted a voting session on Sunday calling the draft "discriminatory."
Several lawmakers with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) also voted against the budget but did not leave the session.
"The budget fails to treat the Peshmerga forces as an Iraqi force, which have defended the sovereignty of the country, by excluding them from the budget," said PUK lawmaker Abdulaziz Hasan, who called on all Kurdish members of the Iraqi parliament to vote down the article in the draft considering military spending without any mention of the Peshmerga.
"The budget clearly takes a position in which Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi are being allocated large portion of the spending while the Kurdish Peshmerga have been completely sidelined as if they have not fought for the safety of Iraq and Kurdistan," Hasan told reporters shortly after the voting session.
The projected budget has allocated an estimated $5 billion to sustain the Hashd al-Shaabi troops which were formally legalized by the parliament last week despite protest from Sunni factions.
But the Kurdish objections concern far beyond the lack of financial support for its nearly 100,000 Peshmerga troops as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) struggles to finance the monthly wages to some 1.4 million people on its payroll, with around 730,000 of them directly employed by the KRG, while another 700,000 people have monthly payments from the Kurdish government in pensions, social protection for underprivileged families, students and payments to families of Peshmerga victims among others.
The Iraqi government has agreed to cover the wages for the KRG employees, 730,000, by monthly allocation of 317 billion Iraqi dinars, but has refused to address the second half of the KRG payroll.
In return, Baghdad has said the KRG is obliged to export 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of its produced oil in Kurdistan in addition to another 200,000 bpd from Kirkuk oil wells through the Iraqi government-owned company of SOMO.
A KRG statement on Friday slammed the budget draft and said it would not abide by it.
"The required budget to cover expenses in the Kurdistan Region with 1.4 million people on government payroll is around 880 billion Iraqi dinars," which the statement said the projected budget had failed to address.
It was unclear late on Monday whether MPs from other Kurdish factions would join the KDP boycott of the voting session, but one lawmaker said "there were other Kurdish MPs with us."
"We have asked all Kurdish factions to unite their positions in regard to financing Peshmerga forces, that is the only article that prompted our exit from the parliament hall," said Khasro Goran, head of KDP block.
Five blocks represent Kurdish voters in the Iraqi parliament with 62 seats in the 328-seat national assembly. The KDP has 25 seats, PUK 21, Change Movement (Gorran) 9, Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) 4 and the Kurdistan Islamic Society (KIS) 3 seats.
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