SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Tuesday reaffirmed its “firm position” to resolve the outstanding issues with the federal government.
KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani chaired a meeting of top officials, including deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani, on Tuesday to discuss the current economic situation and Kurdistan Region’s draft budget law.
The officials stressed that “all possibilities should be taken into account” in preparing the budget bill and that it should be a “realistic and transparent budget that depends on data and oil and non-oil revenues as well as deficit and real expenditures”.
The Kurdistan Region has not prepared its budget since 2014, when Baghdad cut off the Region’s share of the federal budget, which Erbil has been heavily reliant on to pay its civil servants and implement service projects.
The KRG officials also discussed the draft federal budget law for 2021, on which the Iraqi Council of Representatives is scheduled to vote next week.
“The KRG prime minister stressed the Kurdistan Region’s firm position to resolve the outstanding issues between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government, including the Region’s financial entitlements on the basis of [Iraqi] constitution,” a KRG statement said.
He also hoped Iraqi parties would welcome and support Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s invitation to solve issues between Erbil and Baghdad.
On Monday, Kadhimi called on the country’s rival political groups to use dialogue to solve their differences, a move he said would reflect the “love and tolerance” shown by Pope Francis’ historic visit to Iraq.
The pope paid a four-day historic visit to Iraq on Friday, where he visited Baghdad, Najaf, the ancient city of Ur, Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh.
“In the atmosphere of love and tolerance promoted by the visit of His Holiness the Pope to the land of Iraq, we present today the call for a national dialogue,” Kadhimi said in a televised speech.
Iraq suffers from chronic mismanagement and corruption, and a steady level of violence often linked to the rivalry between Iran and the United States in the region 18 years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Kadhimi also called on the officials and political and civil bodies to “reach a final understanding on an agreement about relations between the federal government and the KRG so as to keep the unity of Iraq’s land.”
Despite a series of meetings between Iraqi and Kurdish officials, Erbil and Baghdad have yet to reach a final agreement on suspending issues between both sides.
