Federal Court targets coexistence in Kurdistan Region, says Deputy Speaker of Iraqi Parliament

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Dr. Shakhawan Abdullah, told Kurdistan24 that “this is not the first time for the Federal Supreme Court to intervene in the authority of other branches of government, be it the legislative or the executive branch. This indeed undermines the principle of the constitution.”

“The Federal Supreme Court often delves into some matters that extend beyond its jurisdiction,” says the Deputy Speaker.

In another part of his statement, Mr. Shakhawan Abdullah explains that the Federal Court is now targeting coexistence in the Kurdistan Region. “It is an effort to obstruct the ethnic and religious components of the Kurdistan Region to have their say and rights. These decisions have no effect on the ideas of Kurdistan Region regarding the components of Kurdistan Region society and shall continue to protect their rights.”

On reports about the salaries of civil servants of Kurdistan Region, Mr. Abdullah informed, “The Federal Court has referred to so many details that could impede the whole process. Instead of insisting that the civil servants’ salaries of the Kurdistan Region are guaranteed, it refers to the case within the outlines of the federal budget. This comes at a time when not all of the civil servants in the Kurdistan Region are covered under the outlines of the budget.”

Additionally, the Deputy Speaker highlighted that we have petitioned the Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to separate Kurdistan Region’s civil servants salaries from the actual expenditure. “However, this has yet to become part of parliament’s agenda. This could have been done in three sessions in the parliament and the budget amended. Therefore, this opposes laws of the Federal Court, since by law it is stated that any decision must have its reasons attached to it. But, for this particular case, no reasons are given.”

On Feb. 21, the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ruled to decrease the Kurdistan Region parliament seats from 111 to 100. Those eleven seats were dedicated to Kurdistan Region minorities.

Iraq passed its three-year budget bill in June 2023, considered to be one of the country’s budgets.

The state expenditures are set at 198.91 trillion Iraqi dinars ($153 billion) with a deficit of more than 64 trillion dinars (over $48 billion).

The Kurdistan Region’s share in the federal budget is set at 12.67 percent, amounting to more than $12 billion annually.