ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Tuesday called Iraq’s 2017 budget bill – which has been partially approved -- a “dangerous political conspiracy” against Kurdistan and urged Kurdish MPs in Baghdad to oppose it.

Although the budget bill is still being debated by the Iraqi parliament, some articles related to the KRG were accepted by MPs earlier this week, with some Kurdish MPs also voting in favor.

This is “a dangerous political conspiracy against the Kurdistan Region and unfortunately those Kurdish MPs who voted in favor committed a dangerous act, whether or not they knew about this,” it said.

“They (Kurdish MPs) voted against the public interests of the Kurdistan Region and its employees, without considering that this was not in the interest of the public,” it added, disclosing that the KRG had provided the Kurdish MPs with “important information” beforehand.

The statement urged Kurdish MPs in Baghdad “not to be become part of the black conspiracies being made against the people, rights and achievements and the future of Kurdistan.”

It went on to explain that the numbers contained in the bill do not add up in favor of Kurdistan. It explained that the financial commitments contained in the draft in favor of Kurdistan are less than what Erbil earns on its own.

“The entitlement of the Kurdistan Region in the legislation is not equal to what the KRG obtains from selling oil and domestic incomes.”

The statement also criticized an article in the bill regarding salaries to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which Erbil says have gone unpaid.

“It is the same paragraph which has come in the previous years’ budget bills, which has never been implemented due to its invisibility,” it explained.

“Again, we do not know how much is the allotted budget for the Iraqi ground forces and how much for the Peshmerga and how many Peshmerga soldiers are counted in,” it read.

It complained that, “Since 2005, even one dinar has not been paid for the Peshmerga, despite having the same legal paragraph (article).”

The statement noted that a KRG suggestion, that Baghdad keep oil revenues from Kurdish oil sales but send the 17 percent of the budget that is constitutionally allocated for Erbil, had not been considered.

It noted that the revenues that the central government should send to the KRG -- 970 billion Iraqi dinars per month – were “even 50 billion less than the revenue the KRG would obtain if it sells oil itself.”

The KRG and Baghdad have had a long row over oil sales. Erbil says it has the constitutional right to sell Kurdish oil itself, while Baghdad insists all crude sales should be made through the central government.

The Iraqi parliament accepted a proposal submitted by three Kurdish parties on Sunday to consider paying the salaries of more than half a million Kurdish civil servants in the budget bill, in return for 550,000 barrels of oil from Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region’s oilfields.



The proposal, which was submitted by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Change Movement (Gorran) and Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal), outlined that 250,000 barrels per day of oil from the KRG oilfields and 300,000 bpd from Kirkuk should be exported through Iraq’s state-owned company (SOMO).



In return, Baghdad would send the salaries of 650,000 Kurdish civil servants.



Sunday’s KRG statement noted that terms and articles related to the region’s share in Iraq’s 2017 budget bill had failed to address the region’s economic woes.



Meanwhile, The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) faction in parliament boycotted the session, saying that Erbil’s call for the allocation of Peshmerga salaries in the 2017 budget has not been taken into consideration by parliament.



“We, as the KDP faction together with a number of MPs boycotted the parliament session as the KRG’s demands for the Peshmerga salaries and its budget share have not been taken into account,” said Khasraw Goran, head of the KDP bloc in Baghdad.



Last week, Masoud Haider, member of the Iraqi parliament’s finance committee, told Rudaw that there are certain points they will present to Baghdad to add to Erbil’s budget share, including the payment of 100,000 Peshmerga soldiers by Baghdad.



The Kurdistan Region has faced a severe financial crisis since early 2014 due to falling oil prices and budget cuts by the federal government. Kurdish and Iraqi leaders have failed to reach an agreement over the issue despite multiple meetings in Baghdad.



