Dilshad Shahab, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region presidency said that President Barzani will “discuss the Erbil-Baghdad relations and common issues.”
The visit is Barzani’s first to Baghdad since the Iraqi High Electoral Commission's (IHEC) decision to temporarily suspend the preparations for the long-overdue Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections, pending a lawsuit filed by the Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani against the division of seats for the constituencies.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court last week ruled to temporarily suspend working with Article 2 of the candidate registration and approval system for the Kurdistan Region elections until a ruling is made on the lawsuit by Barzani. The Article states that the Kurdistan parliament consists of 100 seats, allocating 38 seats for Sulaimani, 34 for Erbil, 25 for Duhok, and three for Halabja.
Holding the elections on its scheduled date of June 10 “depends on the court ruling,” Shahab told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman on Tuesday.
“In our latest meetings with the [electoral] commission, they presented a schedule that cannot be delayed. If this schedule is halted for a week or several days, it might affect the election schedule,” he said, adding that IHEC has the final answer on whether the vote can be held on time.
President Barzani will also discuss other pressing issues between Baghdad and Erbil such as the resumption of Kurdish oil exports, the Kurdistan Region’s share in the federal budget as well as the payment of the salaries of the Region’s civil servants, according to Shahab.
The visit is President Barzani’s third to the Iraqi capital since April.
Last month, President Barzani paid two separate visits to Baghdad, where he met with Sudani and other Iraqi officials and leaders. The president also attended the meeting of Iraq’s ruling State Administration Coalition.
Erbil and Baghdad have been at odds on many issues for years on fiscal woes and the Kurdish region’s independent export of oil.
The KRG has failed to pay the salaries of its civil servants on time and in full for a decade due to a financial crisis that deteriorated when a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court suspended its export of oil to the international markets a year ago. The Kurdish government now relies on local income and its controversial share from the federal budget. The KRG paid nine salaries of public employees last year and has paid only one salary this year.
The cash-strapped KRG has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds. Last June, Iraq passed a three-year budget of which the Kurdistan Region's share is 12.6 percent. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in paying the salaries of its civil servants.
