SULAIMANI (ESTA) — U.N. envoy to Iraq said a positive and constructive relationship between Baghdad and Erbil is “key” to the stability of the country.
Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert briefed the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday (November 24).
The U.N. envoy said the recent vote on loan law adopted by the Iraqi Council of Representatives had shown against how “brittle” the relationship between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Iraqi parliament voted on Nov. 12 to approve the draft fiscal deficit financing law, which allows the federal government to borrow 12 trillion Iraqi dinars ($10 billion) in internal and external loans in order to pay salaries of public servants. The loan was decreased from 42 trillion Iraqi dinars.
Kurdish lawmakers walked out of the parliament’s session due to their concern about the Kurdistan Region’s share set in the draft law.
The law commits the Kurdistan Region to hand over non-oil revenues and an amount of oil that SOMO indicates to the federal government in exchange for an amount of money as payment for the Region’s public servants.
“Let us be reminded that it takes two to tango. We expect both parties to keep their side of the bargain. We expect both parties to demonstrate transparency – be it on revenue management or on countless other contentious issues,” Hennis-Plasschaert noted.
She further said the Kurdistan Region’s public servants are also an Iraqi citizen and that they should be shielded from political disputes.
“They cannot and should not be collectively victimized. A solution is urgent, and political will to find a way out will – once more – be of the greatest importance,” she added.
“Iraq’s leaders and politicians may be tempted to ignore this issue. But the bitter truth is: as long as no lasting solutions are found, the relationship will not get any better.”
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representative in Baghdad Faris Issa said on Nov. 16 that the law would not affect an agreement reached between Erbil and Baghdad in September to transfer 320 billion dinars to the Region as payment for the Kurdish employees.
“What is written in the loan law will not affect the 320 billion dinars,” he told Esta Media Network.
Kurdish lawmaker Sarkawt Shamsadin said on Monday that the federal government would transfer 320 billion Iraqi dinars to the Kurdistan Region next week.
