Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, hosted Thursday a high-level meeting between representatives of the federal and Kurdish governments to rebuild trust between the two sides.
A government delegation led by Interior Minister Faleh al-Fayyad arrived in Erbil on Wednesday. It includes Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban, Finance Minister Fuad Hussein and Abu Jihad al-Hashemi, the director of the Prime Minister's Office.
Baghdad accuses the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil of not paying for exporting around 250,000 oil barrels from the region, in addition to other issues including control of airports and border crossings.
Erbil, in return, accuses Baghdad of violating the constitution by rejecting to implement article 140 regarding Kirkuk and the disputed regions, not paying its dues to Kurdistan region and failing to enact the oil and gas law.
Leading member of the Kurdish Democratic Party Shawan Mohammed Taha stated to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the two sides have the intention to resolve outstanding issues.
Taha noted that they should tackle a number of issues, including oil, budget, the disputed areas and border crossings.
It is clear by now that no party can resolve any matter without resorting to the technical and administrative committees, with the constitution being the supreme authority in case of any dispute, he added.
Meanwhile, in Baghdad, MP Yusuf al-Kalabi suspended his membership in the parliament to protest what he considered a procrastination on a request to grill ministers in the federal government in the case of Kurdish oil.
During a press conference, Kalabi said that he wanted to become the voice of Iraqis without any discrimination. The MP stressed that his demands were not targeting the Kurdish people but only those stealing public funds in Kurdistan.
Tarek Harb, an Iraqi legal expert, said the Iraqi constitution does not include clauses on the suspension of membership in the parliament.
In the same context, member of the State of Law Coalition MP Mansour al-Baiji considered the insistence of Finance Minister Fuad Hussein to transfer funds to Kurdistan region a blatant legal violation because the KRG has not kept up its promise to send 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) to federal authorities.
From his point of view, the minister is serving Kurdistan region and not Iraq, and this appears clearly from his insistence to transfer money despite the Kurdistan government’s failure to send oil and other imports as stated in the federal budget for this year.
Baiji underscored that the looting of the natural resources in the southern province will not be permitted.
