KRG rejects Iraq’s federal supreme court verdict on Kurdish payments

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday rejected the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court (FSC) ruling against releasing payments by the federal government to the Kurdish region.

“Kurdistan Region respects the [Iraqi] constitution, laws, and legitimate courts, but this court [FSC] has not been formed and organized constitutionally, so it cannot rule as a federal court,” the KRG said in a statement.

“Therefore, we reject its decisions and ask the federal government to not yield to the decision and commit to the pledges it had made to release the financial entitlements to Kurdistan Region,” the government said.

Despite the “positive atmosphere” in the relations between Erbil and Baghdad to resolve the outstanding issues between the two governments, the court ruled “against the Kurdish people”, the KRG said, describing the verdict as “unjust”.

“These decisions are blatant violation the Iraqi constitution,” and against the political agreement struck between the political parties to form the new Iraqi government, it said.

The legal decision came as the Iraqi government recently decided to send 400 billion IQD ($260 million) to the Kurdish region.

The verdict has drawn strong criticisms from the Region’s top officials, including Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani and President Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdish region.

 “The main problem here is not the amount of money, but rather the flagrant violation of rights and principles,” the KDP leader said, comparing the court to the Ba’athist era “Revolutionary Court”.