Senior KDP, PUK figures to meet Iraqi PM amid financial crisis

Sangar Abdulrahman

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - In a bid to resolve the ongoing financial crisis between Erbil and Baghdad, Rudaw has learned that Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein - a senior Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) figure - are set to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday, with Supreme Judicial Council head Faiq Zidan also attending.

A well-placed source told Rudaw that a member of the KDP politburo is also expected to attend. The Kurdish officials are scheduled to hold further meetings with several senior Iraqi political leaders on Wednesday morning, the source added.

Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad escalated in late May after the Iraqi federal finance ministry suspended budget transfers to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), accusing it of exceeding its 12.67 percent share of the federal budget and failing to deliver the agreed oil quota to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).

The suspension has left over 1.2 million public servants in the Kurdistan Region without salaries for more than two months.

Crucially, the Baghdad meetings come just a day after senior delegations from the Kurdistan Region’s ruling parties met in Erbil’s Pirmam district on Monday to form a “unified stance” on the financial dispute.

A joint statement following the meeting said it was chaired by preeminent Kurdish leader and KDP head Masoud Barzani, with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and PUK leader Talabani also in attendance.

The Kurdish parties pledged to adopt a unified strategy to “intensify efforts” and “ensure the provision of salaries and entitlements for the Kurdistan Region,” emphasizing that all steps would be taken within the constitutional framework.

The high-level meeting notably followed a special session of the KRG Council of Ministers held Sunday to address the worsening financial crisis. A day prior, the KDP had issued a warning, saying it would give Baghdad a “final chance” to resolve the ongoing budget dispute.