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A "final round" of talks between Baghdad and Erbil on the budget


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A "final round" of talks between Baghdad and Erbil on the budget

 
Baghdad: Morning
 
The negotiating delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government, headed by Qubad Talabani, deputy head of the regional government, resumed its meetings in Baghdad on the budget, with weights to approve it at the end of this week, so that these discussions would be a "last round", to agree on the region's allocations and the management of the oil file. First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hassan Karim Al-Kaabi warned against compromising or reducing the allocations of the social welfare network in light of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic and the economic crisis that Iraq is going through, and he said in a statement: “The decision to increase the exchange rate of the dollar has contributed significantly to reducing the amount of salaries in general and making The value of the dinar is very weak, and the burden of the poor and middle classes is exhausted. Al-Kaabi was surprised by the deletion of the article agreed upon in the draft budget, in the presence of the Minister of Labor, related to increasing social welfare allocations.
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Kurdistan Oil (Getty)
Political blocs in Parliament rejected the previous agreement (Getty)
 

A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq held talks in the capital, Baghdad. To settle disputes over the country's fiscal budget for the current 2021 year.
A statement issued by the Iraqi presidency yesterday, Monday, stated that President Barham Salih met with the provincial delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani.
The two sides discussed "the importance of strengthening efforts and dialogues to reach radical solutions to the outstanding issues between the Kurdistan region and the federal government, including the budget file, and not to involve citizens in political issues."
For its part, the regional government said in a statement that its delegation, headed by Talabani, met the leader of the "Al-Fateh" coalition, Hadi Al-Ameri, and the two sides stressed, according to the statement, the need for the draft budget to comply with the constitution and laws in force, in a way that guarantees everyone's rights.
Last December, Baghdad and Erbil reached an agreement on the financial budget, stipulating that the region hand over 250 thousand barrels of oil per day, and half of the revenues from border crossings and others to the federal government, in exchange for a share in the budget of 12.6 percent.

 

The agreement was included in the draft budget, but political blocs in Parliament reject the agreement, which hinders its passage in Parliament, as they want to completely hand over the management of the oil file to the federal government, which is rejected by the region and considers it unconstitutional.
On December 22, the government approved the 2021 budget, worth 164 trillion dinars (about $ 113.1 billion), with a total deficit of 76 trillion dinars (about $ 32.4 billion), and referred it to Parliament for a vote.
The draft budget was not put to a vote in Parliament due to disagreements over the region’s share, and the country is currently financially managed according to the 2019 budget.
(Anatolia, The New Arab)

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Tuesday's newspapers are concerned with the Federal Court’s law and the Kurdish delegation’s negotiations regarding the region’s share of the budget

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Baghdad / NINA / The newspapers published today, Tuesday, the sixteenth of February, were concerned with the Federal Court’s law and the Kurdish delegation’s negotiations regarding the region’s share of the budget.

Al-Zawraa newspaper, published by the Journalists Syndicate, was concerned with the Federal Court’s law and the reasons for not resolving it, and it quoted a member of the Legal Committee, Representative Hussein Ali Al-Oqabi, as saying, “Delaying legislation or amending the Federal Court’s law is not sound in the state’s body. Pointing out: It is not possible to suspend the Federal Court for a single moment at all, except that it has been suspended for months from carrying out its constitutional jurisdiction.

He added: Disrupting the Federal Court is a flagrant violation of the constitution. Emphasizing: that the influential political forces controlling the political decision-making in the Iraqi state and in the constitutional institutions, whether in the government or the House of Representatives, seem to have other accounts, and are betting on the time factor even if this leads to the disruption of a vital constitutional institution, namely the Federal Court.

He pointed out: All matters are completed at the level of legislation. All options have been resolved, whether by amending Order No. 30 of 2005 or by enacting a new law for the Federal Court. Stressing: All options are ready and legally and technically ready. He explained: that in the absence of an agreement, matters cannot be suspended. Indicating: that the political forces have other accounts related to representation in the Federal Court and the nature of people within it, and some parties try to expand through people and not through the law or legislation.

He continued: As those forces are working to change the members of the Federal Court with new names and new people that are closer to them and the loyalty of the new members belong to these influential political forces, so they are betting on the time factor and working to disrupt the constitutional life in the Iraqi state in order to reach this reach.

He went on to say: We hope that the national forces in the country will be keen to pass the amendment or new legislation to the Federal Court Law, and to keep the court away from political quotas and pressures in the service of the public interest.
For his part, the legal expert, Ali Al-Tamimi, stated that without legislating the Federal Court Law or amending its Law 30 of 2005, there is no benefit from the elections because it is the one who approves the election results, and it suffers from a shortage in its composition. He added: The composition of the Federal Court suffers from incompleteness. Its quorum after the abolition of Article 3 of its law, which allowed the members of the court to nominate from the Judicial Council to the Presidency of the Republic to issue decrees, and the Federal Court canceled this article.

He explained: Article 5 of its law requires that court sessions be held in the presence of the entire court, and on the contrary, its decisions are invalid. Pointing out: The Federal Court is the one who certifies the final results of the elections. According to this case, it is not possible to approve any elections.

He believed: The solution is for the House of Representatives to legislate a law by returning to Article 3 of the Federal Court Law while amending Article 3 so that the nomination of members is shared between the Federal Court and the Judicial Council in consultation, because legislating the Federal Court law is difficult, as it needs a vote of two-thirds of the Council members, and this Difficult according to Article 92 of the Constitution.



Regarding the negotiations of the Cree delegation, Al-Sabah newspaper said that the negotiating delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government, headed by Qubad Talabani, Vice President of the Regional Government, resumed, Monday, its meetings in Baghdad on the budget.

The newspaper quoted a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Sherwan Mirza, as saying that "the delegation will meet with the Kurdish representatives in the Parliamentary Finance Committee and discuss the articles on the Kurdistan region’s share of the budget."

In turn, Committee member Muhammad Ibrahim expressed his hope that the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government would reach an agreement within the constitutional and legal frameworks, at a time when the President of the Republic is hosting a meeting between the Finance Committee and a delegation from Kurdistan.

Ibrahim said: "Officials in Kurdistan are afraid of not reaching an agreement with Baghdad, and passing the 2021 budget bill by the majority without the participation of Kurdish forces."

He added that "Parliamentary Finance hopes that the two sides will reach an agreement without going to pass the budget by a majority," noting that "the agreement between Baghdad and Erbil must be within the constitutional and legal frameworks."
And that "in the event that the two parties reach an agreement, we will work to include it in the draft budget law and put it in parliament to vote on the project."
For his part, Representative Mansour Al-Baiji affirmed that, “The delay in approving the budget until now due to the failure to reach a formula to end the problem of the region’s share is unacceptable and is borne by those who delay approving the budget so far, and the country is exposed to major crises due to the lack of approval of the budget and the disastrous consequences it bears for not being approved ».


And on the mutated strain of the Corona virus, Al-Zaman newspaper quoted the Ministry of Health and Environment, announcing that the mutated strain of Corona virus has entered Iraq, officially after monitoring new cases of infection among children, amid warning and fears of an unprecedented outbreak of the pandemic in light of citizens' negligence with preventive measures, confirming the suspension of all activities Sports to face it during the moment.

The newspaper quoted Minister Hassan Al-Tamimi, calling on citizens to be very careful after the new strain of Corona appeared in Iraq.

Al-Tamimi said during a conference yesterday attended by the Ministry's undersecretaries Jassem Al-Falahi and Hani Musa, that (Health has provided all capabilities to confront the Corona pandemic, and we call on citizens to be very careful after the emergence of the new strain in the country).

He added that (the ministry recorded new infections with Corona virus for children), indicating that (the new epidemic could affect children, and several cases were recorded).

He continued, "The ban will be healthy, and adherence to homes will reduce injuries," stressing that "health teams will go to the street starting today and there is coordination with the Pharmacists Syndicate to monitor the prices of masks in the market."
In turn, the ministry's spokesman, Saif Al-Badr, confirmed in a statement yesterday that (the cases registered with the new strain of Corona in Iraq are from the same strain that was diagnosed in Britain).
He added that (all activities that include gatherings are currently postponed and prohibited according to the decisions of the Supreme Committee that have issued executive orders from the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, including matches and games of various kinds), noting that (the decision is general and includes all matches and there is no exception at the time. Quee) ./ finished
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Must be the final, final round of discussions as several articles “ in the not to distant past “ ( yea, l can pull that crap too ), said this was the final meeting ( I paraphrase- or am I getting this confused with another” final process “???).

Tell ya what, I can’t be the only one here just a wee bit tired of all of this being dragged through the weeds going into year 18.

Not so long ago I picked up the very lengthy War & Peace novel: nearly 1,400 pages-made a bet with my wife Id finish it before they RV’d. She said I’d  no doubt would finish the novel first. 

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1 hour ago, horsesoldier said:

Must be the final, final round of discussions as several articles “ in the not to distant past “ ( yea, l can pull that crap too ), said this was the final meeting ( I paraphrase- or am I getting this confused with another” final process “???).

Tell ya what, I can’t be the only one here just a wee bit tired of all of this being dragged through the weeds going into year 18.

Not so long ago I picked up the very lengthy War & Peace novel: nearly 1,400 pages-made a bet with my wife Id finish it before they RV’d. She said I’d  no doubt would finish the novel first. 

 

If that is the Case how about you reading the Novel and whole lot faster or better yet just pick up a copy of the Cliff Notes and be done with it so They can get this RV deal Done Already.

 

Karsten

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3 hours ago, horsesoldier said:

Must be the final, final round of discussions as several articles “ in the not to distant past “ ( yea, l can pull that crap too ), said this was the final meeting ( I paraphrase- or am I getting this confused with another” final process “???).

Tell ya what, I can’t be the only one here just a wee bit tired of all of this being dragged through the weeds going into year 18.

Not so long ago I picked up the very lengthy War & Peace novel: nearly 1,400 pages-made a bet with my wife Id finish it before they RV’d. She said I’d  no doubt would finish the novel first. 

Woody Allen quote: "I took a Speed Reading course before reading War and Peace. It's about war. Also peace."😆 .......😈😇

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The Iraqi government  has been spinning this written nonsense for years . They can;t just be silent on this issue ,so they spin this stuff until they;re good and ready to do it . They reach an agreement , then they don;t reach it . deadlines are set ,then rescinded . it's enough to drive you wild !  

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3 hours ago, Laid Back said:

Every year (11) since I got on this investment is the same story with Kurdistan and the federal government.

 

Corruption is the order the day.

 

Looks like they are planning to increase social welfare allocation and not the exchange rate..... I hope I’m wrong.

dont think they could increase welfare without rate change. supplementary budget covered off on social welfare and reconstruction as per 2013 articles.... 

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2 hours ago, screwball said:

dont think they could increase welfare without rate change. supplementary budget covered off on social welfare and reconstruction as per 2013 articles.... 

Absolutely correct.  Welfare is a cost.  A reduction of available budget or increase in spending.  So rate change is inevitable.  The IRQ Dinar will just have lost more value.  Simple economics.

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24 minutes ago, OfCamelot said:

Absolutely correct.  Welfare is a cost.  A reduction of available budget or increase in spending.  So rate change is inevitable.  The IRQ Dinar will just have lost more value.  Simple economics.

I think we need to remember could be based on price of oil and delete zeros! does this need to occur same time as budget approved. remember the restructure of the financial system will create fiscal space as per IMF? what does this allow them to do? a rate change without huge change in accounting records and currency restructure will drive inflation through the roof.

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Baghdad Today - Baghdad

On Wednesday (February 17, 2021), PUK mp Hassan Alli confirmed that there had been nothing new about the current negotiations to reach an agreement between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil.

"The situation is the same, and there are ongoing meetings, but there are fundamental points of disagreement over two paragraphs of the budget law," Alli told Baghdad today.

"In the current situation, we expect negotiations to continue for next week, and everything remains to be done with regard to the agreement, but so far there is opposition from the regional government to deliver all oil to Baghdad, which requires all exports of the region to be supervised," he said.

On Monday, Mansoor al-Baiji, a member of the State of Law Coalition, stressed that no party is allowed to agree on the kurdistan region's share of the budget for the current year, noting that no party has the right to negotiate the wealth of the central and southern provinces and guide them to the Kurdistan region without handing over its imports to the federal government.

"Delaying the approval of the budget so far due to the lack of a formula to end the regional quota problem is unacceptable and is borne by those who delay the approval of the budget so far and the country is facing major crises due to the failure to approve the budget and its disastrous consequences for not approving it," al-Baiji said in a statement received by Baghdad today.

"You don't agree with our provinces and the only solution to passing the kurdistan region's share is to hand over oil and all their other revenues to the federal government like other provinces so that we can vote for them on their share of the budget and without handing over their revenues, we will not allow Kurdistan to be given one dinar," he said.

"Most members of the House of Representatives, especially the deputies of the southern provinces, are determined to hand over the region's oil and revenues to border crossings and airports to the federal government, without which they will not pass the region's share in the budget, and any party that tries to agree at the expense of our devastated provinces will be held accountable inside the dome of parliament and will not negotiate at the expense of our provinces once and for all," he said.

 
 
 
 
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Erbil, Baghdad budget negotiations ‘inherently political’: UNAMI head

18 hours ago

 

 
IRAQUN top representative in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert briefing the UN security council on Tuesday, February 16, 2020. Photo: UNAMI
UN top representative in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert briefing the UN security council on Tuesday, February 16, 2020. Photo: UNAMI
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The United Nations top representative in Iraq categorized ongoing budget negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad as “inherently political,” adding that the failure to reach an agreement has been impeded by Iraq’s current legal framework.

“Agreement on the 2021 budget law requires reconciliation and compromise between Baghdad and Erbil. Within that context, I regret to again report that a final, durable agreement on budgetary and larger issues remains elusive,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert at a briefing of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

“Those who have followed the recent budgetary negotiations closely, will have realized that these negotiations were not just centred on technical questions - such as barrels per day. They were also inherently political – about deeper misgivings and mistrust,” she said. 

Budget disputes have been a source of long-standing tension between Erbil and Baghdad. A Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation, led by Talabani, has visited Baghdad multiple times to come to a deal on the 2021 federal budget, upon which the KRG is dependent on for its funds.

“The harsh reality is that constructive negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil continue to be hampered by laws missing since 2005. Laws on, for instance, oil and revenue sharing. Other areas of contention also include the disputed territories,” added Hennis-Plasschaert, noting that stable relations between Erbil and Baghdad are needed for the stability of the whole country.

Erbil rocket attacks 

Fourteen rockets hit various locations across Erbil on Monday night, killing one person and injuring nine others.

The person killed was a civilian contractor, and other contractors and military personnel were among the injured, according to the US-led coalition spokesperson.
 
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) head described the attack as an act that could escalate tensions in Iraq

"Such heinous, reckless acts pose grave threats to stability,” said Hennis-Plasschaert, urging for restraint on all sides. The official also noted the continued threat the Islamic State (ISIS) poses in Iraq, over three year after the group’s territorial defeat in the country.

Iraq elections

The UN representative placed an emphasis on the importance of Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections. 

“For credible elections to take place, it is imperative that parties and candidates operate in a
free and safe environment,” noted Hennis-Plasschaert. “I call on all parties, stakeholders and authorities to come together, to agree on a ‘code of conduct’ and to allow all Iraqi candidates to operate freely – irrespective of ethnicity, gender, language, religion, belief or background.”

A request for electoral observation from the Iraqi government is currently being deliberated on by the UN.

“I also would like to underline that, no matter what your response is [to the request], the
elections will be Iraqi-led and Iraqi-owned at all times. And I sincerely hope that all of Iraq’s
political leadership truly takes this to heart.”
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The Independent / - The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Jeanine Hennes Plasschaert, ruled out reaching a "final and lasting" agreement between Erbil and Baghdad on the budget and the rest of the "major" issues.

 

Jenin Hennes Plasschaert responded this exclusion to "the absence of laws since 2005", saying that this matter "continues to hinder constructive negotiations between the two sides."

During Blashart's presentation of her briefing to the UN Security Council via video conference from Baghdad, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq indicated that "agreement on the 2021 Budget Law requires reconciliation and settlement between Baghdad and Erbil."

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq confirmed that “the positive and stable relationship between federal Iraq and the Kurdistan region is absolutely necessary for the stability of the entire country,” pointing out that “the bitter reality is that the absence of laws, which have been missing since 2005, still hinders constructive negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil. .

The UN envoy expressed her "regret", noting that "reaching a final and permanent agreement on the budget and the larger issues is still elusive."

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