On Saturday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee provided clarification on the specifics of the ruling made by the Supreme Federal Court concerning the funding of salaries for workers in the Kurdistan Region (KRI).
Atwan Al-Atwani, the head of the Parliamentary support Committee, said that “the Supreme Federal Court’s decision stipulated that the federal Ministry of Finance should finance the salaries of KRI’s employees in the same manner as their counterparts in all Iraqi governorates.”
He stated, “The decision is clear that any party that obstructs the implementation of any of these provisions will subject itself to accountability and justice,” stating that “the aim of localizing salaries is to build a database and avoid job duplication.”
Al-Atwani further stated that “the allocation amount will be part of the Region’s allocations, which is 12.67%, and the remainder will be used to finance projects and institutional requirements in the Region.”
He pointed out that “the Ministry of Finance will monthly finance the salaries of KRI’s employees and retirees per the decision of the Federal Supreme Court,” stating, “Officials in the Region should interact with the decision positively to finance employees’ salaries in a normal manner.”
On Wednesday, February 21, 2024, the Supreme Federal Court—the highest court in Iraq—made the decision to force Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, the prime minister of the Federal Council of Ministers, and Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, to localize public sector employee salaries through federal banks.
Judge Jassim Muhammad Abboud Al-Omairi, the President of the Federal Supreme Court, read the ruling in the Kurdistan salaries case, which required Al-Sudani and Masrour Barzani to localize all government employees’ salaries in the region and the center to federal banks located outside of the Kurdistan Region.
The court further determined that the Regional Council of Ministers would have to provide Baghdad all oil and non-oil income, and that the workers of the Region would have to submit their monthly budget to the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The decision to localize the pay of Region’s employees is final and binding, as the verdict made clear.
Notably, along with the oil export and disputed territory, wages are among the primary unresolved disputes between the governments of Iraq and Kurdistan.
Despite their frequent meetings, neither party is able to come up with a drastic solution to these problems.
