KRG Aide Denounces Baghdad’s Salary Withholding as ‘Oppression and Injustice’
A KRG official says Baghdad's failure to pay salaries is political oppression, not a financial crisis, as the Region has exceeded its legal obligations.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A top aide to the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has issued a forceful and detailed rebuke of Baghdad’s continued failure to pay the salaries of the Region’s public sector employees, declaring the federal government’s actions to be a politically motivated act of "oppression and injustice against the people of Kurdistan."
In a comprehensive statement on Saturday, Rebaz Hamlan, the Assistant to the KRG Prime Minister, systematically dismantled Baghdad's justifications for withholding the funds, asserting that the Kurdistan Region has fully met and even exceeded its legal and financial obligations, and that any claims of a federal financial crisis are simply "not true."
Providing the latest information on the persistent and deeply damaging salary dispute between Erbil and Baghdad, Hamlan outlined the KRG’s consistent efforts to comply with federal requirements and facilitate a resolution.
He revealed that the KRG had made a significant gesture of goodwill in an attempt to secure the payment of the September salaries for the Region's employees before the Iraqi parliamentary elections.
"The Kurdistan Region has shown its readiness to deposit another 120 billion dinars into the account of the federal Ministry of Finance at the Erbil branch of the Central Bank of Iraq, if Baghdad had decided to release the salary before the election," Hamlan stated to media channels.
However, he confirmed that this proactive offer was met with inaction from the federal capital, noting that Baghdad ultimately "did not make the decision," a choice that left hundreds of thousands of families in the Kurdistan Region without their salaries and underscored the political nature of the delay.
Hamlan directly confronted and rejected the narrative being promoted by some in Baghdad that a federal financial crisis is preventing the disbursement of the KRG's constitutionally mandated share of the budget. He presented a clear and compelling statistical comparison to expose the fallacy of this excuse. "What is being said about a financial crisis is not true," he stated unequivocally.
To substantiate this claim, he contextualized the KRG's financial needs within the broader federal expenditure.
"Iraq spends eight trillion dinars monthly on the salaries of its ministries, while the total salary of the Kurdistan Region is only 960 billion dinars," Hamlan explained. This stark contrast illustrates that the entire monthly payroll for the Kurdistan Region amounts to a mere fraction of the federal government's total salary expenditure.
To further emphasize this point and demonstrate the manageability of the KRG's share, he offered an even more pointed comparison, highlighting that the Region’s total salary requirement "is close to the salary budget of the Iraqi Ministry of Education alone."
This powerful analogy serves to dismantle the argument that paying the Kurdistan Region's share would place an unsustainable burden on the federal treasury, suggesting instead that the refusal to do so is a matter of political will rather than financial capacity.
With all technical and administrative hurdles cleared, Hamlan stressed that the ongoing impasse is purely political. He confirmed that the KRG has diligently completed all required bureaucratic steps, leaving no room for procedural justifications for the delay.
"There are no technical issues left between Erbil and Baghdad, and the salary lists and the review balance have been sent," he affirmed.
This full compliance with Baghdad's auditing and transparency requirements makes the continued withholding of funds all the more egregious in the eyes of the KRG. It is this combination of fulfilled obligations and baseless federal excuses that led Hamlan to his stern conclusion about the motives behind the stalemate.
"What is being done in Baghdad against the Kurdistan Region is political," he stressed, "and is oppression and injustice against the people of Kurdistan."
The Assistant to the Prime Minister also provided concrete data to prove that the Kurdistan Region has been faithfully upholding its end of the bargain as stipulated by federal law, particularly regarding the handover of oil and non-oil revenues.
According to Hamlan, "more than seven million and 500 thousand barrels of oil from the Kurdistan Region have been sold through the SOMO company," referring to Iraq's State Organization for Marketing of Oil. This confirms that the Region’s oil exports are being managed and monetized through the official federal channels as agreed upon.
Furthermore, Hamlan revealed that the KRG has been consistently transferring its non-oil revenues to the federal treasury, and has in fact been contributing more than what is legally mandated.
"The Kurdistan Regional Government continuously hands over an amount of 120 billion dinars from its domestic revenue to Baghdad monthly," he stated, before adding the crucial detail that this sum "is more than what is required according to the federal financial management law."
This assertion directly counters any claims that the KRG is failing to meet its revenue-sharing commitments and strengthens its position that it is Baghdad that is acting in violation of the country's legal and constitutional frameworks by weaponizing the livelihoods of the citizens of the Kurdistan Region.
Despite the deep frustration and the clear sense of injustice, the KRG remains committed to resolving the issue through dialogue. Looking ahead, Rebaz Hamlan revealed the government's next step in its persistent effort to break the deadlock and secure the rights of its people.
He announced that "immediately after the Iraqi parliamentary elections, a delegation from the Ministry of Finance of the Kurdistan Regional Government will visit Baghdad to discuss the salary issue."
This planned visit signals the KRG’s unwavering intent to engage with the federal government and find a sustainable solution, hoping that the post-election political landscape in Baghdad may offer a new opportunity for a breakthrough based on the constitution and mutual respect.
