Paris court's ruling eliminated KRG’s excuses for not submitting the budget to parliament

Kurdistan 10:51 AM - 2023-04-07

Kurdistan Parliament

Following the implementation of the International Court of Arbitration's decision on oil exports from the Kurdistan Region, there is no way to avoid bringing the budget bill to parliament. The KRG, whose presidents were members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, has not sent a budget bill to parliament in over ten years, and its earnings and expenses are unknown.

Qubad Talabani: The budget will reduce the differences

As the Paris Court's decision took effect, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said in a statement, "There will be no barrier in front of the Kurdistan Parliament to approve a transparent budget". "We must maintain equity in the distribution of revenues and services across all provinces without discrimination while promoting transparency within the parameters of the budget law".

Kurdistan Parliament Speaker: The government should send the budget to parliament

"We ask the Kurdistan Regional Government to bring us the budget bill in the present and future, in accordance with the same logic and principles of the Iraqi Constitution and Law, and we must all uphold our legal commitments in this regard," said Dr. Rewaz Fayaq, Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament.

There is no excuse for not presenting the budget

Luqman Wardi, Deputy leader of the PUK Faction in the Kurdistan Parliament, told PUKMEDIA : "The Kurdistan Parliament has not received the budget bill in almost ten years". "To avoid injustice and distribute funds equally, the budget bill must be presented to the Kurdistan Parliament as soon as possible".


There is no longer any justification for delaying the budget bill's submission to parliament, according to Wardi, as the French arbitration court's decision to transfer the oil file and determine the region's part of Iraq's general budget is in effect.


"Under KDP's control, the revenues and expenses have been unknown for almost ten years. Only a select few individuals knew of the revenues and expenses of the Kurdistan Region, but "that time has passed," he added.

Corruption resulted from a lack of a budget

All corruption, inequality, and revenue spending in the Kurdistan Region are the consequences of the lack of a budget. The region's governance needs to be improved, and having a budget is a step in that direction.


According to Dr. Sherko Jawdat, a member of the Finance Committee, "What is currently occurring is utter corruption, and the government has been spending funds illegally for nearly ten years while the parliament is unaware of it".


Furthermore, he claims that the region's lack of a budget has made revenue and expenditure unclear, which is the root cause of all corruption and inequity in the Kurdistan Region.

The budget leads the country toward transparency

The budget bill is the most crucial piece of legislation because it organizes revenues and expenses and distributes them across projects and sectors while guarding against fraud, unfairness, and lack of transparency.


According to economist and university lecturer Dr. Khalid Haider, "The budget is the cord of transparency that drives the country towards democracy in every country".


"There hasn't been any transparency in the Kurdistan Region for ten years, but now that Erbil and Baghdad have implemented the Paris Court ruling, there is no way to avoid the budget's approval," Khalid added.

The prime minister did not keep his promise for the budget

Over the last ten years, the Finance Committee has repeatedly requested that the Prime Minister submit the budget to Parliament. Nonetheless, he avoided it until the Prosecutor General informed him it was necessary for the public interest.


Even though the parliament has not seen the budget bill in two sessions, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani broke his vow to have an annual budget bill.


The Kurdistan Regional Government still needs to submit the budget bills for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 to the Kurdistan Parliament.






PUKMEDIA