"The 2021 budget has been politicized, and any parliamentary amendment to it violates the constitution."

Tariq Harb, Iraqi legal Expert. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)
Tariq Harb, Iraqi legal Expert. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi legal expert Tariq Harb says the draft federal budget for 2021 has become politicized after it lost official status, indicating that the constitution prevents Parliament from making any amendments to the project.

Harb added, in an interview with Kurdistan 24 on Friday, that the budget law differs from all other laws enacted by the Iraqi parliament, and that it is based on provisions stipulated in the constitution, indicating that the government is the one best positioned for handling financial issues in terms of spending, revenues and financial entitlements.

Iraq’s parliament can turn any other law upside down, but its authority regarding the Federal Budget Law is “limited, restricted and not absolute” – as is the case with other legislation – according to Harb.

The legal expert said financial issues are the government’s approach for which it can be held accountable later, especially since the government is more aware of the entitlements for each ministry. He referred to Article 62 of the constitution, which prohibits Parliament and the Finance Committee from manipulating the federal budget.

Harb touched on the political disputes and bids that some MPs want to play on as the country prepares for early legislative elections on October 10. The election was recently delayed from an intended June 6 vote, although the parliamentary session does not officially end until May 2022.

He added that a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee told him, “We wrote a new budget,” noting that this constitutes an infringement of the budget approved by the government.

"The budget written by Parliament came according to the will of some who represent less than 20 percent of the people," he said, referring to the participation of about 20 percent of Iraqis in the 2018 legislative elections that were marred by major manipulation and fraud.

Harb added that an elected representative must represent all of Iraq, not one territory or region.

“We work for all of Iraq, and to consider Basra the same as considering Erbil, and to look at Salahuddin, the same as Sulaimani, and this view is what identifies the constitution,” he said.

The KRG’s negotiating delegation, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, returned to Baghdad last week to complete talks with federal officials on the oil files and the 2021 Budget Law.

Read More: KRG has 'other alternatives' if no agreement reached with Baghdad: Spokesman

Former Iraqi Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari also clarified on Thursday that the federal Parliament does not have any constitutional authority to manipulate the federal budget.

Zebari said in a statement that Parliament and the Finance Committee have no right to "manipulate and change the budget according to the constitution," noting that "what is happening now is jumping over the principle of separation of powers, which is the basis of the democratic system."

The former minister considered "the parliament's invasion of the executive and judicial authorities a shameful matter, and in most countries, it is unconstitutional and undemocratic."

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly