KRG Cabinet to Hold Emergency Session on Baghdad's Financial Obligations
The KRG Cabinet will hold an emergency session to address Baghdad's failure to honor financial obligations, discuss Kurdish withdrawal from Baghdad, and tackle the ongoing budget crisis affecting 1.2 million public employees in the Kurdistan Region.
Jan. 11, 2025
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers will convene an extraordinary session on Saturday in Erbil, to address the continuing financial dispute with Baghdad concerning employee salaries and the region's constitutional entitlements.
The meeting, chaired by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and attended by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, will include KRG representatives in the federal government and heads of all Kurdish parliamentary blocs in Baghdad.
KRG Spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani told Kurdistan24 that the main focus of the emergency session would be discussing the continuing issues surrounding the Kurdistan Region's financial dues from the federal government.
Noticeably, Hawramani specified that "Kurdish withdrawal from Baghdad" would be among the options discussed during the extraordinary cabinet meeting.
This development comes amid ever-increasing tensions between Erbil and Baghdad over the federal government's recurring failure to honor its constitutional obligations toward the Kurdistan Region.
The federal government has recurrently deferred or held back the Region's share of the national budget, specifically impacting public sector salaries and essential services.
The financial row between Erbil and Baghdad has been an incessant source of instability since 2014 when former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki cut the Kurdistan Region's budget share.
Despite several agreements and promises, including provisions in the 2023 budget law, Baghdad has constantly fallen short of fulfilling its financial commitments to the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Region, home to nearly 6 million people, has encountered recurrent economic challenges due to these overdue payments, impacting over 1.2 million public sector employees and their families.
The potential withdrawal of Kurdish representatives from Baghdad would mark a major development in the continuing constitutional crisis between the federal government and the Kurdistan Region.
This emergency session reflects growing frustration among Kurdish leaders over Baghdad's perceived lack of commitment to constitutional partnerships and financial obligations, potentially signaling a new phase in Kurdistan Region-Baghdad relations.