UN envoy says Iraq halting KRG’s budget share ‘inopportune,’ emphasizes cooperation to resolve dispute

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In a briefing to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called the timing of the Iraqi government’s recent halt in the budget transfer to the Kurdistan Region “inopportune” and said cooperation from both sides is required to resolve the issues.

The address comes as Iraq experiences an unprecedented, challenging time that “one can hardly overstate the magnitude of the challenges facing Iraq at this moment,” Hennis-Plasschaert said in the preamble of the briefing, citing “deep existing political, social, economic, and security crises,” compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and crashing oil prices.  

“The timing was most inopportune,” Hennis-Plasschaert added, referring to the Iraqi government’s recent decision to halt the Kurdistan Region’s budget allocation despite an agreement between the regional and federal governments.

She also expressed her concern as the move is “affecting civil servant salaries” in the Kurdistan Region.

In mid-April, former Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi requested the Iraqi Finance Ministry to halt the budget transfer to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and take back the entire previously delivered amount since Jan. 1, 2020.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani previously said the Federal Government of Iraq must not use the autonomous region’s financial entitlements and employees’ salaries as a “political pressure” tool, describing the move as “illegal.”

Read More: PM Barzani: Iraq cutting KRG share of budget ‘illegal’

Hennis-Plasschaert said she sees a “long-term sustainable approach” as an “urgently needed” solution to end the oil-for-budget dispute. As any sustainable solution, she stated, it requires “two to tango,” meaning shared responsibility and compromise to end the long-standing issue.

The special representative also stressed on “political unity” among parties in the Kurdistan Region as “recent internal tensions do not serve the interest of the Kurdish people.”

Ongoing crisis in Iraq

The envoy also highlighted Iraq’s long-standing issues such as corruption and political infighting that have worsened the existing crisis the country is currently facing.

In her briefing, Hennis-Plasschaert claimed that “corruption is perhaps the greatest source of dysfunction in Iraq.”

Elsewhere, in a meeting on Monday with Iraq’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the UN envoy underlined “UNAMI’s support and readiness to work closely with the new government for the benefit of #Iraq and its people,” according to a post on UN Iraq’s Twitter page.

SRSG Hennis-Plasschaert congratulated PM Al-Kadhimi on the formation of his government, expressed hope for the speedy completion of the remaining posts, and underlined UNAMI’s support and readiness to work closely with the new government for the benefit of #Iraq and its people.

— UNAMI (@UNIraq) May 12, 2020

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany