Iraq’s supreme court rejects President’s lawsuit against PM
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by President Abdul Latif Rashid, The National reported on February 18th.
The lawsuit against Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani and Finance Minister Taif Sami Mohammed was over delays in salary payments to civil servants in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
President Rashid had requested that the court ensures employees in the region “are paid continuously and on time”, arguing that “technical issues should not delay” public sector salaries.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government have been at odds over budget allocation and energy deals, since the 2003 US-led invasion that saw Saddam Hussein fall from power. The Kurdish region’s oil sector suffered a major setback in 2022 when the Federal Supreme Court ruled its regulatory law for the industry as unconstitutional, ordering the region to transfer oil sector operations to Baghdad.
In 2023, an arbitration ruling halted Kurdish oil exports through Turkey, cutting off a crucial revenue stream for Erbil and causing the region to struggle to pay salaries. To address the salary payment issue, Baghdad and Erbil agreed on a temporary strategy in which loans are sent to civil servants and social services, in order to deal with the issues surrounding budget allocation.
This month, Parliament okayed a budget amendment to subsidise production prices for international oil companies who are in operation within the region. While the Kurdistan Regional Government rejected the earlier proposal of $7.90 for being too low, the new agreement amended the price to $16 per barrel.
Under the new deal, Iraq’s Oil Ministry and the region’s Ministry of Natural Resources will appoint an international consultant within 60 days to look into fair production and transport prices.
On February 18th, Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci. Both sides “agreed on the need” to resume oil exports through Ceyhan.
On February 11th, Iraq’s top court threw out a legal challenge that had temporarily blocked three controversial laws passed in January by the Iraqi parliament, The New Arab via the Associated Press reported. The measures included an alteration to Iraq’s personal status law, giving Islamic courts more control over family affairs – including marriage, divorce and inheritance.
The National
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