"Money transfer" ignites disputes between Baghdad and Erbil

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[size=52]"Money transfer" ignites disputes between Baghdad and Erbil[/size]

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Part of Al-Sudani and Barzani's meeting in Baghdad a few days ago (from the source)
January 29, 2023
Huda Jassim (Baghdad)[/size]
[size=45]Disagreements have returned between the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and the central government in Baghdad after the Federal Court's decision to stop sending monthly payments to the region.
Last Wednesday, the Federal Supreme Court issued a decision to annul all government decisions related to transferring funds to the Kurdistan region.
The decision stipulated, “The ruling is that the decisions issued by the Council of Ministers in the years 2021 and 2022 regarding the transfer of funds to the Kurdistan region are not valid,” indicating that the ruling is final and binding on all authorities.
The current government had decided to follow the same path as the previous government, and sent the amount of 200 billion dinars (about 138 million dollars) per month to the Kurdistan region, and issued a decision in the middle of this month to send 400 billion dinars for two months' dues.
After the Federal Court's decision, the government will stop sending any monthly payments during the coming period.
A member of the Parliament of the Kurdistan region, Muslim Abdullah, said that the financial revenues of the regional government achieved from the sale of oil and other revenues are around one billion and 100 million dollars.
Abdullah added, in a press statement, that "the region pays the salaries of employees, the Peshmerga forces, and social welfare monthly, at around 895 billion dinars only," noting that "this does not mean that the government does not need the funds of the federal government."
For his part, independent Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman ruled out the Kurds' withdrawal from the government and parliament because of the Federal Court's decision.
Othman said that the recent Federal Court decision was against the governments of Al-Kazemi and Al-Sudani, because they were the ones who decided to send money as salaries to the Kurdistan Region.
In turn, the representative of the "Fatah Alliance" affiliated with the "Coordination Framework", Mahdi Taqi, considered that Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani had become obligated to implement the Federal Supreme Court's decision to stop sending money to the Kurdistan region.
The outstanding files between Baghdad and Erbil are among the most prominent problems faced by successive Iraqi governments, and among the most important of those files that need dialogue and common understandings are the salaries of the employees of the Kurdistan region, security coordination in the disputed areas, and agreement on a mechanism for exporting oil from the fields of the region.
The decision of the Federal Court came with the imminent arrival of a new delegation from the regional government to Baghdad to complete the discussions on the outstanding files between the two parties.
The head of the regional government, Masrour Barzani, visited Baghdad last week, and discussed with officials in Baghdad the differences and outstanding issues.
This was preceded by discussions that Barzani held in Baghdad, last November, with Al-Sudani and other Iraqi leaders and political parties regarding the outstanding issues between the region and Baghdad and border control.
The head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, denounced the Supreme Court's decision, considering it "a violation of rights and principles."
In a statement, Barzani considered that preventing money from being sent to the region is a "flagrant violation of rights and principles."
He said, "The benefits of the Kurdistan region are a legitimate right," adding that it is "part of the program that was agreed upon.[/size]
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