ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A high-level delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani will visit Baghdad to discuss outstanding issues between the regional and federal governments.
“The meetings will discuss the resolution of outstanding issues between the KRG and the federal government on the basis of the constitution and the agreement of the parties to form the government and the ministerial agenda,” the KRG said in a statement.
Barzani will also meet with Iraq’s top leaders during the Baghdad visit, including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, President Abdul Latif Rashid, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, and Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan.
Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad have been high since the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court in February deemed the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law “unconstitutional,” hence striking the independence of the Region’s energy sector and jeopardizing its industry. The KRG has repeatedly challenged the constitutionality of the court’s ruling.
The meetings in Baghdad will discuss oil and gas issues, the budget bill for 2023, as well as security.
In November, Sudani said the regional and federal governments are willing to resolve the pressing issues between them, stressing that they should do so “professionally.”
Barzani and his delegation will also “discuss the development of cooperation and coordination between the two sides in order to face problems and obstacles and solve them.”
Several rounds of talks between Erbil and Baghdad have previously been fruitless, and political instability in Baghdad with the country unable to elect a government for over a year put a halt to negotiations between the two sides. The KRG, however, resumed sending its delegations in November but the meetings have not yielded any progress thus far.
