PM Barzani’s perseverance ensured the constitutional rights of Kurdish people in federal budget law: MP
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Ensuring the Kurdistan Region’s rights and dues are reflected in the 2021 federal budget is due to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s efforts refusing unconstitutional attempts on people’s income, and preserving the political entity of the region, a Kurdish parliament member told Kurdistan 24.
The Iraqi federal parliament on Wednesday evening succeeded in approving most of the articles of the federal financial budget for the year 2021 – in particular the Kurdistan Region’s share – after disagreements and negotiations that spanned months.
Read More: Iraqi parliament approves Kurdistan’s share of 2021 budget
Jwan Rozhbayani, a Kurdish parliament member and head of the disputed territories committee, said in an interview with Kurdistan 24 that Barzani has insisted on the constitutional rights of the people of the autonomous region, and “ensuring the regions share of the 2021 federal budget law is one of the outcomes of months of that.”
Rozhbayani praised the region’s negotiating team and Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi parliament for their efforts in representing the region according to the federal constitution, and criticized certain political sides who were against any agreement between the Kurdistan Region and federal government for political reasons.
She said the “issue of the disputed areas is also of great importance to this cabinet and will not settle for anything less than our constitutional rights.”
Rozhbayani also said that there was a certain Kurdish political side “who had a hand in the Oct. 16, 2017 betrayal. The same team were prepared to hand over the regional entity of Kurdistan to Baghdad in exchange for a salary; however, Prime Minister Barzani insisted that the people’s income and the region’s financial dues are a constitutional right, not something to be used as a privilege in an agreement.”
On Oct. 16, 2017, in response to the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum, Iraqi forces and the Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias mobilized against the Kurdish Peshmerga in Kirkuk and other disputed territory, ousting the Kurdish forces that had previously fought alongside them in the war against the Islamic State group.
For many, the blame lies with a group of Kurdish leaders within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party. It was reported at the time – including by members of the PUK – that the group had reached a backdoor deal with Iraqi forces and the militias to surrender Kirkuk to Baghdad.
Rozhbayani stressed the importance of political unity for the people of Kurdistan, and in order to protect the gains of the Kurdistan Region, urging certain political sides to halt such attempts against each other as it would only result in the distortion of the Region’s political image.
Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly
