Kurdistan’s share of Iraqi budget 'isn’t a privilege; it’s a right': PM Barzani

Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, on Saturday said, that the region's share of federal revenues is a right, and not a privilege.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Following a controversial budget vote in the national parliament, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Saturday that the autonomous region's share of the federal revenue “is a right, and not a privilege.”

On early Thursday, lawmakers in Baghdad passed a budget deficit law with a majority of its members in the absence of representatives from the Kurdistan Region, who boycotted the session over disagreements about a clause that Kurdish lawmakers described as “unfair” for the autonomous region’s share in the federal budget.

Read More: Iraq’s parliament passes deficit law, despite Kurdish objections

In a post on social media, Barzani explained that the constitution must be used as a base for all agreements between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), stating, “As I’ve said in the past, the relationship between Erbil and Baghdad should be based on recognizing each other’s rights and duties under the constitution.”

Regarding the possibility of the parliament’s finance committee amending a section of the law that sets a condition for the Kurdistan Region to submit all of its oil and non-oil revenues in order to benefit from its partial share.

“This dangerous precedent must quickly be reversed. We have an opening still to correct this injustice,” he continued.

After the vote, the KRG sternly objected to the deficit spending bill that had been passed during a session that Kurdish lawmakers were boycotting.

Read More: KRG objects to spending bill Iraq passed in absence of Kurdish lawmakers

Barzani then called on Kurdish representatives in the national parliament in Baghdad, the regional parliament in Erbil, and the KRG to take a unified stand against the law, remarking that it "stabbed the people of Kurdistan in the back."

Read More: Iraqi parliament vote 'stabbed the people of Kurdistan in the back': Masoud Barzani

Editing by John J. Catherine