Baghdad MP of the National Nahj bloc, Hussein Al-Oqabi, criticized Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s justifications for handing over two hundred billion dinars retroactively to the Kurdistan Regional Government, under the pretext of paying the salaries of the region’s employees as a financial advance that is not included in the budget accounts.

Al-Oqabi indicated, in a press statement, that the salaries of the region’s employees are a legitimate right for citizens because they are the entitlements of a people that have nothing to do with politicians’ maneuvers and tricks, but in the literature of the federal system they are the responsibilities of the region’s government and not from the competencies of the federal government, and it should be handed over to citizens from the dues that It was allocated to the region within the budget law after fulfilling its obligations, foremost of which is the delivery of oil and non-oil revenues (revenues from border crossings, taxes, customs fees, etc.), of which the region has not handed over a penny to the federal government for years.

He added, “as a parliament and a federal government, we do not know where, how and to whom this huge money is spent, and why the region does not pay the salaries of its employees from its oil revenues, which are estimated at one trillion dinars per month, which is a large amount that far exceeds the salaries of the region’s employees. Salaries for its employees, where do they go? Why and under what justification does the federal government have to give it (an advance) to pay salaries and without guarantees to return these amounts?

Al-Oqabi explained, “the government gives the region sums of money despite not paying what it owed since 2018, which means that there is no mutual commitment between the two parties, and this is a violation of the constitution, the Financial Management Law and the Budget Law for 2021,” noting that “the Prime Minister missed that salaries from The current operational expenses are not investment expenditures, so it is not permissible by law to give an advance to them, as they are not projects that can be given an advance according to the percentages of their completion, emphasizing that the issue of paying the salaries of the region’s employees is one of the powers of the region’s government and has nothing to do with the federal government according to the constitution, the law and the formula of government in federal systems.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency