Baghdad-Erbil Agreements Buffeted By Political Headwinds

2 Jun 2023 Issue: 66 / 22 By: Yesar Al-Maleki

For all that Iraq’s Prime Minister is keen to reset relationships with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), factions within Baghdad remain opposed. Iraq’s Parliamentary Finance Committee has proposed an amendment which would undermine the April oil export agreement, while the country’s Supreme Court has ruled against a 2022 term extension for Kurdistan’s parliament.

The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s recently agreed political deals with Iraq’s federal government are based on shaky grounds, and it was just a matter of time before those opposing them in Baghdad made their moves. That time has now come.

On 25 May, the country’s parliamentary Finance Committee introduced an amendment to the budget legislation that would force Erbil to hand over crude oil production – not just exports – to the federal Ministry of Oil and imposes further restrictions on the KRG’s access to funds obtained from selling it. The move, if approved by parliament, which would hinder Erbil’s gains from the fragile budget agreement reached in mid-March (MEES, 24 March), was mostly championed by anti-KRG MPs within the ruling Shia Coordination Framework (SCF) political bloc. (CONTINUED - 1347 WORDS)