Kurdistani party and some of Gorran voted "Yes"
After 12 full days of hard talks and scrutiny of the Kurdistan Regional Government's 2011 budget draft in the Parliament, the majority of MPs voted for the Region's 13,949,946 million Iraqi dinar ($11.626 billion) budget on the last day of May, exactly six months into the year.
The late approval is expected to alter the economic and social situation in the Region, as the delays had almost halted economic life. Both government and private sector projects and activities slowed significantly due to lack of financing and uncertainty.
One of the most awaited articles in the budget was the issue of employing 25,000 new people in the public sector, which is hoped to ease some of the unemployment issues in the Region.
To ensure a fair and effective hiring process, Parliament recommended the government distribute the opportunities equally and fairly among the various institutions to cover all geographical areas, and follow the instructions and regulations of the Council of Ministers in implementing this project until the Service Council's Law is issued. The law is meant to regulate government human resources and recruiting policies and procedures.
Out of the 25,000 hires, 6,000 will be for the Ministry of Education, 2,500 for Ministry of Health, 1,200 for Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, 1,000 for the Ministry of Municipalities, and the remaining for the other ministries and institutions. The Ministry of Finance had requested 5,332 employees, but Parliament reduced that number by 4,000 and distributed the employees among education and health ministries and residents of disputed areas.
Other human resources issues addressed in the approved budget include back pay for some government employees, adjusting salaries of the Peshmarga and security forces to be in line with central government salaries, as well as to reduce the gap between salaries of low-level staff and higher officials.
Housing and wedding loans will continue in the new budget. Industrial loans that were approved last year but not implemented will now go ahead. The budget also included loans for tourism projects.
The total estimated revenues for the year is 12.386 trillion ID ($10.321 billion), meaning KRG will run a budget deficit of 1.563 trillion ID ($1.3 billion). However, if the salaries of the Peshmarga forces for the years 2007 to 2010 are reimbursed by the central government, this deficit would be eliminated.
The operating budget for this year is 9.8 trillion ID ($8.17 billion), and the investment budget is 3.85 trillion ID ($3.21 billion). Around 298 billion ID ($24.8 million USD) is dedicated for projects implemented by the governorates.
The approved budget has been submitted for final approval by the Region's president, after which it will be published in the official Waqayei Kurdistan newspaper. Then, the budget law will go into effect.
This year's budget discussions were different than previous years because several parties criticized the draft budget and pushed for modifications in the interests of the public, even it was against the recommendations and expectations of their political parties.
Though not all parties voted for the entire draft, articles that were related to the interests of the public were supported and approved unanimously or by overwhelming majority.
Some MPs did not vote either for or against the budget.
Nariman Abdullah, MP from the opposition Gorran Movement, who did not vote for the entire budget, explained that, as in previous years, it is a mistake to vote for the whole draft after approving some articles and rejecting others.
"So, if you vote "Yes" for the whole budget, it means that your "No" vote for some individual articles would be ineffective, which legislatively wrong," explained Abdullah in a Globe interview.
However, according to Sozan Khala Shahab, MP from the Kurdistani party, its suggestions were approved since they were more realistic.
"Reducing 1 trillion ID from government expenditures, increasing marriage loans to 5 million ID, housing loans to 20 million ID, increasing allowance for the poor from 75,000 to 150,000 ID are among the achievements that made Kurdistani MPs vote for the budget," stated MP Dilshad Shahab from the Kurdistani party. "However, this does not mean that we don't have any criticisms of the budget."
While appreciating some achievements and some positive initiatives from the government, MP Hama Saeed from the Islamic Union believes there is an imbalance in the distribution of projects over sectors and geographical areas.
"That is why our party did not vote for the budget law," MP Saeed told the Globe.
The three opposition blocks in the parliament, Gorran, Islamic Union and Islamic Group, did not vote for the whole budget law and gave their reasons in a 12-point statement.
Among major reasons were lack of transparency in the internal revenues of the government, lack of a clear strategic plan for employment, concentration of the budget in construction and building, and lack of transparency in oil and gas sales.
MP Khala Shahab, on the other hand, argues the opposition's resolution to vote "No" is a political decision rather than an act for the benefit of the Region and its citizens.
"We have discussed every single article, transparently and in detail," explained Shahab. "The final reports answer the majority of the questions and concerns raised by the opposition groups."
© The Kurdish Globe 2011
