Kurdistan employees are the first victims.. Iraq is waging a “salaries” war

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[size=52]Kurdistan employees are the first victims.. Iraq is waging a “salaries” war[/size]

[size=45]Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mustafa Al-Karawi, pointed to a delay in financing employees’ salaries, but he said that those salaries are secured as a balance with the government.[/size]
[size=45]While the Iraqi markets are witnessing a state of questions and anxiety after the decline in oil prices, as it constitutes the backbone of the Iraqi economy, and citizens depend heavily on its revenues to finance services, salaries and other government expenses.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Karawi added, “There is a delay in financing employees’ salaries due to the scarcity of cash, and this is clear because most ministries and government departments suffer from a delay in financing and disbursing their employees’ salaries.”[/size]
[size=45]Provide cash[/size]
[size=45]Al-Karawi explained that “some ministries and departments used to pay their employees’ salaries on the 16th and 18th of the month, but now they are delayed until the 26th. The reason for these ten days of delay is a problem in providing cash.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Karawi pointed out that “employee salaries are generally secured as a balance in the government, but the date of their financing will be delayed due to a shortage of financial cash.”[/size]
[size=45]The member of the Finance Committee continued, saying, “According to the last meeting with the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, she confirmed that the salaries of employees are secured for the current month of August.”[/size]
[size=45]In recent months, employees in Iraq have complained about delaying their salaries until the end of the month, while they used to be paid between the 16th and 26th of each month.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi government and the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives, in turn, confirmed that the salaries of employees and retirees are secured even if oil prices fall below $70 per barrel.[/size]
[size=45]Kurdistan crisis[/size]
[size=45]For more than two months, members of the Peshmerga forces and other security forces have been waiting for the issue of their payrolls to be resolved by the federal and Kurdistan governments.[/size]
[size=45]An informed source revealed yesterday, Friday, that a new date has been set for sending salaries to employees and security services in the Kurdistan Region.[/size]
[size=45]The source said, “The salaries of the employees were scheduled to be sent by the Federal Ministry of Finance last Thursday.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "Given the completion of the auditing process, the existence of new appointments and contracts concluded by the regional government, and the salaries of employees in Kurdistan exceeding one trillion dinars, it was decided to postpone the sending until next Sunday," stressing that "until now there is no agreement on a specific date for sending salaries every month on a regular basis."[/size]
[size=45]Meanwhile, other newspaper sources in Sulaymaniyah Governorate reported that a number of government employees went on strike in protest of delayed salaries.[/size]
[size=45]The sources said that employees of the electricity, land registry and notary public departments in Kalar, Kifri and other areas affiliated with Sulaymaniyah have begun a strike.[/size]
[size=45]She confirmed that the reason for the strike was the delay in paying the salaries of employees in Kurdistan for last July.[/size]
[size=45]Employees in the Kurdistan Region were exposed to a state of confusion regarding receiving salaries and their dates, which negatively affected the economic situation in the region, according to the employees.[/size]
[size=45]Increase in MPs' salaries[/size]
[size=45]In addition, activists and angry citizens on social media launched a major campaign to reverse the parliament’s secret approval to increase the salaries of members of the House of Representatives, in light of the global confusion over oil prices.[/size]
[size=45]The House of Representatives voted in its session on Wednesday, August 7, to increase the salaries and allowances of its members.[/size]
[size=45]Legal expert Salem Hawas said, “The Iraqi Council of Representatives’ vote on the decision to increase the salaries and allowances of its members by an amount equivalent to the salaries and allowances of a minister, as well as increasing the risk percentage granted to the Council’s employees by an amount equivalent to 30% of the nominal salary, is a betrayal of the people who elected them, a violation of the Iraqi constitution and laws, a violation of the principle of social justice and the principle of equal opportunities in light of the harsh conditions of the Iraqi citizen, and a suspension of important laws that touch on social and humanitarian needs.”[/size]
[size=45]He explained that “the legal description of a member of the Council of Representatives is that of a general manager, so how can he be allocated the allowances of a minister in violation of the law? It is an unjustified gain and an arbitrary use of rights. Also, the constitutional texts, including Article 16, stipulate that equal opportunities are a right guaranteed to all Iraqis, and the state guarantees taking the necessary measures to achieve this, at a time when many laws and decisions of a humanitarian nature are being suspended, including the salary scale law, in addition to their violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which stipulates that Iraqis are equal before the law.”[/size]
[size=45]The legal expert added, “The Iraqi constitution requires in its Article 50 that a member of the House of Representatives take an oath by God Almighty to protect the interests and wealth of his people and to commit to implementing legislation with honesty and impartiality.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mada obtained a document issued by Parliament that includes a vote on a decision to increase the salaries and allowances of its members.[/size]
[size=45]The document stated that “during Parliament session No. (7) held last Wednesday, 8/7/2024, the House of Representatives voted on a parliamentary decision stipulating an increase in the salaries and allowances of its members to an amount equivalent to the salaries and allowances of the minister. The decision also included an increase in the risk percentage granted to the Council’s employees to an amount equivalent to 30% of the nominal salary.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mada obtained a document issued by the office of MP Ahmed Al-Sharmani, which includes a request to the Parliament Presidency to cancel the decision to increase the salaries of members of the House of Representatives.[/size]
[size=45]Before the reduction, the salaries of the representatives ranged between 10 and 15 million dinars, but currently they range between 8 and 10 million, before the reduction to 6 million for the majority of the members of the council, meaning that there is a widening gap between the members of parliament so that the salaries may be between 6 and 10 million dinars.[/size]
[size=45]Inflation and salary scale[/size]
[size=45]Thousands of employees took to the streets last July in mass demonstrations, heading to the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, demanding an adjustment in the salary scale in light of the country's high annual inflation rate.[/size]
[size=45]Earlier, Iraqi parliament member Raed Al-Maliki confirmed that the draft salary scale law is with the government after it was withdrawn from the House of Representatives, indicating that the delay in its approval is due to the government and not parliament.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Maliki said in a press conference that “the draft federal civil service law was in the House of Representatives, as this draft law includes 4 laws, including the salary scale law.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The draft law was withdrawn from the government and the Council of Ministers and has not been returned despite repeated demands from the representatives."[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that there is a large disparity between the salaries of Iraqi state employees, as an employee with a certain job grade in one ministry receives a salary exceeding one and a half million dinars, while his counterpart in another ministry does not receive half of this salary, and salaries increase with the increase in job grades and the difference in monthly allowances, in addition to the annual profits in some productive ministries.[/size]
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