BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi intends to have the federal government adopt a policy of paying civil servants’ salaries in Iraqi Kurdistan without mediation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). This is considered a substantial improvement in the relationship between the federal government and Kurdish citizens in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the move is expected to strike at the very heart of Kurdistan’s economy and undermine Erbil’s authority, as it cannot refuse such an offer.
Baghdad and Erbil have a history of dispute on the topic of staff salaries in Kurdistan, as the two sides differ on the amount of salaries owed. While Baghdad says the budget for Kurdistan employees is 460 billion Iraqi dinars ($392 million), the KRG says it pays 650 billion Iraqi dinars ($554 million) monthly to government employees. According to sources in the KRG, salaries of peshmerga forces, the Kurdish security units (Asayish) and the police cost 400 billion Iraqi dinars ($341 million) each month.
Parliament member Jassim Mohammed Jaafer — who is close to Abadi — announced Baghdad’s intention to pay the salaries of Iraqi Kurdistan’s civil servants. He told Al-Monitor, “Prime Minister Abadi is serious about this plan, and he continues to be so even after the Kurdish government decided to freeze the independence referendum results on Oct. 24, 2017 — especially now that Kirkuk’s oil fields are under Baghdad’s authority.” Jaafer revealed that about 10 oil fields in Kurdistan are expected to have their revenues included in the federal budget to complete the plan, which he expects to be ready in the near future because the federal government has decided that “Kurds should not be deprived of their political, financial and administrative entitlements stated under the constitution.”
Concerning implementation of the plan, Jaafer said the technical system is ready to distribute salaries through the QiCard system, which is currently used in Iraq. “We are waiting for the Kurdish government to send the database of employees and peshmerga personnel so that the QiCard system can be instructed to integrate databases of the Kurdish employees as well as peshmerga personnel to receive their salaries at any of the company offices inside or outside of Kurdistan,” Jaafer added.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
