ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - In an extraordinary meeting of the Kurdistan Region cabinet also attended by Kurdish politicians from the federal government on Saturday, the government said it would demand from Baghdad full payment of civil servant salaries for the year 2025, after delays and missed payments last year.
“In the new year, there should be no problems created regarding the salaries of Kurdistan Region’s government employees,” Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said in a post on X.
The KRG invited the Kurdish politicians in Baghdad to attend the meeting to discuss long standing financial disputes with the federal government. Opposition parties, however, decided not to take part.
The KRG, which is dependent on funds from Baghdad to pay its civil servants, had a shortfall for the past several months and has not received any funds for December.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani last month told lawmakers that the KRG would not receive the full amount of money it needs to pay its civil servant wages, attributing the shortfall to insufficient funds in the Kurdish government’s share of the federal budget.
The Kurdish Ministry of Finance last week blamed Baghdad for the unpaid salaries. “As the finance ministry and the KRG, we are insistent on obtaining the December salary, which is the responsibility of the Iraqi government to provide,” the ministry said in a statement.
At Saturday’s cabinet meeting it was also decided that Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Finance will take part in reviewing the proposed schedules of salary expenditures, investments, and regional development budgets, and that the Region’s share of the federal budget must be determined based on last year’s census and in accordance with constitutional criteria, ensuring a fair distribution.
“In 2026, the Kurdistan Region's budget share must be sent according to its designated percentage, not just salaries,” said Hawramani.
If these demands are not met, other measures will be taken, he added, without going into detail.
Iraq’s three-year federal budget bill passed in June 2023 obliges the KRG to hand over non-oil revenues to the federal government in return for its share in the budget, which is 12.6 percent.
The KRG has said it pays half of its local income to Baghdad.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that there are other topics to discuss besides the financial issues, such as implementing article 140 of the constitution to resolve the disputed areas, the rights of the Peshmerga, the destruction of 4,500 Kurdish villages, and the Anfal genocide.
“This meeting is important and if we are united and if Baghdad feels that Kurdistan is serious about insisting on its rights, I do not believe that Baghdad can marginalize the Kurdish people and ignore these demands of Kurdistan,” Barzani said, according to the KRG statement.
“The behavior of Baghdad with the Kurdistan Region is unfair and against the Iraqi constitution and is not compatible with the federal system and is not acceptable,” the statement added.
The message from the meeting will be delivered to Baghdad by the four Kurdish ministers in the federal government.
Kurdish parties have about 60 spots in the 329-seat federal legislature. They also hold several key positions in Baghdad such as the presidency, and the ministers of foreign affairs, justice, the environment, and construction and housing.
