ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stated that Baghdad is determined to audit the list of the KRG state employees before they make any payments, but added that they will make payments to certain groups before they finish the whole data.





Commenting on the disagreement between the KRG and his government over the figures of the KRG public employees, PM Abadi said on Tuesday that there is a “big difference” between Baghdad and Erbil’s figures. He said that he did not believe that the Kurdish government could have 1.4 million actual employees on its payroll.





The Kurdish parties have long employed people to buy their loyalty or for corruption, claimed Abadi, something that has to be stopped.





He explained that Baghdad has started to audit the list of Kurdish employees, which will take some time; therefore, they will audit the number in groups.





The moment they finish one group, they may start to pay that particular group. He revealed they have begun with teachers, health workers, and some “essential” members of the security, respectively.





“It is not necessarily the case that we have to first audit all [state employees] before we make the payment,” Abadi said.





He clarified that Baghdad does not want to send the KRG its budget for any group of employees before the audit is conducted.





The KRG maintains that Baghdad did not request an updated list of state employees collected through biometric system that digitally recorded the public workers. The biometric program that began about a year ago aimed to cancel the payments of the so-called ghost employees or double salaries. There are 1.249 million people on the KRG’s payroll, according to its figures.





PM Abadi also stated that they KRG’s workforce has to be downsized, so that it will represent a “just” number compared to the rest of Iraq.





With regards to the protests which began, Abadi called on the KRG and Kurdish security forces to respect people’s right to “peacefully protest” after violent demonstrations have broken out in several Kurdish cities since Monday including Sulaimani. He said his government does not accept any crackdown against Kurdish citizens.





The PM also added that attacks by protesters against party and government offices must be stopped.





Kurdish protesters are demonstrating against a lack of basic services such as electricity, widespread corruption, and the full payment of state salaries. The KRG has said the continued budget cuts by Baghdad since early 2014, and the loss of the oil fields in Kirkuk to the Iraqi forces in October, have forced the government to make salary cuts or have failed to pay its 1.2 million person payroll on time.





Regarding the KRG’s calls for dialogue following the Iraqi-opposed Kurdish vote on independence, Abadi said that their demands for negotiations are clear: that the KRG has to commit to the constitution —including handing over all Kurdish border strip to the Iraqi federal forces — and to withdraw to the pre-2003 borders that used to separate the Peshmerga-controlled areas from the Iraqi regime before the invasion of Iraq.





KRG has said they are prepared to hold dialogue with Baghdad within the framework of the Iraqi constitution, but that they do not agree to meet any Iraqi demand including on border disputes before talks begin.









CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story erroneously quoted Iraqi PM Abadi as saying that Baghdad cannot pay full KRG civil servant salaries.





Last updated at 11:33 p.m. on December 20, 2017