Thursday, November 02, 2006
KRG threatens to sue Maliki's government
Politics, Kurdistan, Economy
KRG has accused the central government of the Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki of refusing to give part of the KRG's annual budget. Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani will head to Baghdad in the coming days, to broker a deal with the central government on the divisive issues of oil and budget that have tarnished the relations between Baghdad and Erbil over the past few months, government sources said. Barzani is to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani. The visit comes at a time when the rifts between the Iraqi and Kurdistan regional governments have grown ever wider after the US-led invasion of the country in 2003. Kurdish officials have pre-warned that if their talks with federal authorities reach a deadlock, they may sue al-Maliki's government in an International Court.
KRG has accused the central government of the Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki of refusing to give part of the KRG's annual budget. According to agreements between Kurds and federal authorities, 17 per cent of the national budget will be allocated for the three northern provinces of Erbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhok of Kurdistan Region. However, KRG's Deputy Prime Minister Omar Fattah recently acknowledged in a parliament session that only eight per cent of the designated budget has reached the regional government's treasury. Calls for restoring the remaining budget to the KRG were intensified as Barzani recently said that the central government owes $US500 to the Kurdish government. Iraq's budget for 2006 was projected at $US33 billion when the price of oil was projected at $US26 a barrel, but for much of that period oil was sold at $US60 per barrel.
Observers believe much of the problem in Kurdish-Iraqi relations emanates from ambiguities in the text of the Iraqi constitution that has led to various and in some cases conflicting interpretations of a certain item in that document.
Observers believe much of the problem in Kurdish-Iraqi relations emanates from ambiguities in the text of the Iraqi constitution that has led to various and in some cases conflicting interpretations of a certain item in that document.
