ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Council of Ministers is set to meet on Wednesday to address the ongoing financial dispute with Baghdad, the prolonged delay in public sector salary payments, and efforts to resume Kurdish oil exports.
According to an official statement posted on the KRG’s Facebook page, the meeting will be chaired by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and will focus on “the financial situation of the Kurdistan Region, the course of negotiations and dialogue with the federal government [in Baghdad], and developments related to salaries and oil exports.”
Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad escalated in late May after Iraq’s federal finance ministry suspended budget transfers to the KRG. The ministry accused the KRG of exceeding its 12.67 percent share of the federal budget and failing to deliver the agreed-upon volume of oil to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).
The decision effectively halted salary disbursements for over 1.2 million public employees in the Kurdistan Region.
Wednesday’s cabinet meeting comes just one day after senior Kurdish officials from the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) began a new round of meetings with top Iraqi leaders in Baghdad.
Rudaw learned that PUK leader Bafel Talabani and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein - a senior KDP figure - met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday. Supreme Judicial Council head Faiq Zidan also attended the meeting.
A source familiar with the matter said a member of the KDP politburo is also expected to join the talks. Further meetings are also planned for Wednesday with several political leaders, including from Iraq’s ruling Shiite-led Coordination Framework.
These intensified efforts follow a high-level Kurdish meeting held Monday in Erbil’s Pirmam district, aimed at forming a “unified stance” on the disputes with Baghdad.
A joint statement following the meeting said it was chaired by preeminent Kurdish leader and KDP head Masoud Barzani, with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and PUK leader Talabani also in attendance.
The Kurdish parties pledged to adopt a unified strategy to “intensify efforts” and “ensure the provision of salaries and entitlements for the Kurdistan Region,” emphasizing that all steps would be taken within the constitutional framework.
The latest developments also follow a special session by the KRG cabinet on Sunday, to address the worsening financial crisis as well. A day prior, the KDP had issued a strong warning, saying it would give Baghdad a “final chance” to resolve the ongoing budget dispute.
