“The decision of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court, which was issued today and ruled that the payment of financial entitlements and salaries of Kurdistan Region employees by the Iraqi Federal Government in the years 2021 and 2022 is not valid, is a completely unfair and abusive decision,” Barzani said in a statement.

Barzani underlined that “the ruling targets not only the public employees and the people of Kurdistan who are Iraqi citizens but also the entire political process and stability and the agreement on which the new Iraqi Federal Government is founded”.

Barzani went on to say: “Iraq went through a long and complicated political process of instability until a government was finally formed in Baghdad which the Iraqi people pinned their hope on for a stable and better future. Every expectation from the Iraqi Supreme Court was that by protecting the interests of all Iraqi communities and by taking into account the political situation, it would avoid distorting the existing opportunity and the current positive atmosphere to resolve the country’s problems, especially the problems between Erbil and Baghdad, and also avoid endangering the political stability of Iraq.”

“The decision of the Iraqi Supreme Federal Court at this time raises doubts and leaves many question marks. It also raises the issue of urgency in ratifying a new law to reconfigure the Court, which is an important and main part of the agreement among the political parties to form the new Iraqi federal government,” Barzani added.

On Wednesday, upon a complaint made by the governor of Wasit province, Mohammed Mayahi, and an independent member of the Iraqi parliament, Mustafa Sand, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled against the payment of the Kurdistan Region’s financial entitlements by Baghdad, claiming it violates the 2021 Iraqi Budget Law. (ILKHA)