PM Barzani slams Baghdad for reducing KRG’s concerns to salary issue

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday accused the federal government of reducing longstanding Erbil-Baghdad disputes to the payment of salaries and called on Kurdish ministers and lawmakers to defend the rights and financial entitlements of Kurdistan. 

“We cannot reduce all our problems to just the salary issue. Unfortunately, Baghdad has successfully managed to minimize our issues through its policies. They keep us preoccupied with whether or not the people of Kurdistan will receive their monthly salaries, but what about all those other matters? Kurdistan has been making sacrifices for 100 years - was it for salaries, or was it for identity, land, homeland, equality, and freedom?” Barzani told an extraordinary cabinet meeting attended by Kurdish ministers and parliamentarians from the federal administration. 

The KRG had invited all Kurdish political parties that have representatives in the Iraqi parliament to attend the meeting about financial disputes with the federal government. Opposition parties, however, decided not to take part.

Barzani expressed his disappointment that some parties did not attend the meeting, adding that he had expected otherwise. 

He urged Kurdish politicians in Baghdad to prioritize defending the rights of the people of Kurdistan Region, “which unfortunately have become the main topic of discussions.”

He accused Baghdad of failing to implement parts of the constitution and compensate Kurdish victims of the former regime. 

“We have several other points that we must advocate for. Article 140 has not yet been implemented, the issue of territories separated from Kurdistan Region has not been resolved, the Peshmerga issue has not been properly resolved yet, and the matter of compensation for Anfal victims and victims of the previous regime, in addition to the destruction of 4,500 of our villages have all been forgotten,” he said. 

Article 140 of the constitution deals with resolving the disputed areas.

Salaries have been a priority for many people since the KRG has failed to pay the wages of its large civil servant workforce on-time and in-full for a decade due to a financial crisis that worsened when its oil exports stopped in March 2023 following a court ruling on a dispute between Iraq and Turkey over the Kurdistan Region’s independent oil sales. 

Erbil is now dependent on local income sources and its controversial federal budget share.

Baghdad has not yet paid the December salaries of Kurdistan Region’s civil servants and it remains unclear when the payment will be made.

Kurdish parties have about 60 spots in the 329-seat federal legislature. They also hold several key positions in Baghdad such as the presidency, and the ministers of foreign affairs, justice, the environment, and construction and housing.