Tuesday, January 11th 2011
Parliament postpones first budget reading until Thursday
Baghdad, An MP in Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC) stated on Tuesday that the Iraqi Parliament has again postponed the first reading of the draft budget for 2011 until next Thursday.
MP Shuan Mohammed Taha told AKnews that the postponement was mainly due to technical difficulties concerning the printing of the draft.
At the end of December, the bill was returned to the government for modifications before being passed to the Iraqi parliament for its first reading this month.
Parliament Speaker Osama Nujaifi decided to consider the first reading of the budget in December as void because at that time, the Finance Committee had not been formed.
The Kurds also objected to the draft budget because it did not clearly contain provisions for the budgets of the Kurdish forces known as Peshmarga, and the regional government was not satisfied with its allocated provisions.
Peshmarga, or the Kurdistan Regional Guards, are recognized in the Iraqi constitution as regular forces. The dispute over the Peshmarga forces is who would pay them, the Iraqi government of the regional government?
The Kurds insist that the Peshmarga forces, being regular Iraqi forces, have to be paid by the Iraqi government, Baghdad in turn want them be paid by the Kurdish region from their 17 percent in the Iraqi budget.
Another issue is that the Iraqi government has included in the budget a provision binding the KRG to export 150,000 bpd or it would be cut from the 17 percent of the region's budget share accordingly.
KBC MPs boycotted a parliament session on Nov. 18 protesting the budget bill that commits the region to the 150,000 bpd export.
Baghdad says based on such an agreement it is would pay financial dues of the oil companies operating in Kurdistan.
The Iraqi government's binding condition stems from, according to Iraqi officials, a statement last month by the KRG Minister of Natural Resource Ashti Hawarmi who said Kurdistan could export 200,000 bdp.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/209616/
Parliament postpones first budget reading until Thursday
Baghdad, An MP in Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC) stated on Tuesday that the Iraqi Parliament has again postponed the first reading of the draft budget for 2011 until next Thursday.
MP Shuan Mohammed Taha told AKnews that the postponement was mainly due to technical difficulties concerning the printing of the draft.
At the end of December, the bill was returned to the government for modifications before being passed to the Iraqi parliament for its first reading this month.
Parliament Speaker Osama Nujaifi decided to consider the first reading of the budget in December as void because at that time, the Finance Committee had not been formed.
The Kurds also objected to the draft budget because it did not clearly contain provisions for the budgets of the Kurdish forces known as Peshmarga, and the regional government was not satisfied with its allocated provisions.
Peshmarga, or the Kurdistan Regional Guards, are recognized in the Iraqi constitution as regular forces. The dispute over the Peshmarga forces is who would pay them, the Iraqi government of the regional government?
The Kurds insist that the Peshmarga forces, being regular Iraqi forces, have to be paid by the Iraqi government, Baghdad in turn want them be paid by the Kurdish region from their 17 percent in the Iraqi budget.
Another issue is that the Iraqi government has included in the budget a provision binding the KRG to export 150,000 bpd or it would be cut from the 17 percent of the region's budget share accordingly.
KBC MPs boycotted a parliament session on Nov. 18 protesting the budget bill that commits the region to the 150,000 bpd export.
Baghdad says based on such an agreement it is would pay financial dues of the oil companies operating in Kurdistan.
The Iraqi government's binding condition stems from, according to Iraqi officials, a statement last month by the KRG Minister of Natural Resource Ashti Hawarmi who said Kurdistan could export 200,000 bdp.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/209616/
