Kurdish Minister: salary resolution with Baghdad key to addressing other issues

Shafaq News/ On Thursday, Pshtiwan Sadiq, the Kurdish Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, announced the successful agreement between the federal and Kurdish governments regarding the salaries for public sector employees.

At a panel discussion on Iraq and the Middle East, Minister Sadiq praised Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's efforts to resolve the salaries issue for employees in the Kurdistan Region, considering them "a starting point for addressing other contentious issues between the regional and federal authorities."

Notably, the Kurdish government has faced significant challenges in meeting the timely and complete payment of salaries to its civil servants for the past decade. This financial strain intensified following a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court that suspended the KRG's oil exports to international markets a year ago, exacerbating its financial crisis.

As a result, the KRG has been heavily reliant on local income sources and its allocated share from the federal budget, which has been a subject of controversy. Despite efforts to manage its fiscal situation, the KRG has consistently struggled to meet its salary obligations.

The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq's decision worsened the situation by issuing a ruling ordering the "localization" of salaries for all Kurdistan Region employees in federal banks. This decision has resulted in the halt of salary disbursements, leading to numerous strikes across various sectors.

This April, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi federal government announced a breakthrough, agreeing on a long-standing dispute regarding public sector salaries in the Kurdistan Region.

Regarding the upcoming Kurdish parliamentary elections, Minister Sadiq, who also holds a position in the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Erbil, revealed that "90% of the parties that have submitted their names to the Independent High Electoral Commission believe that parliamentary elections in Kurdistan cannot proceed without the KDP."

In March 2023, KDP decided to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region, denouncing the decisions made by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court regarding the Kurdistan Region elections.

Last February, Iraq's Supreme Court issued rulings, including canceling the 11 seats of minorities in the Kurdish Parliament, Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission to take over from KRG's electoral commission to supervise parliamentary elections, and dividing Kurdistan into four constituencies instead of the single-constituency system in previous elections.

Despite the KDP's reservations about the elections, PUK affirms its full readiness. "The Kurdistan Parliament elections will be held as scheduled. Anything else is not an option for us," Bafel Talabani, PUK head, said.