27 April 2011
Erbil - The Kurdistan Regional parliament will discuss budget bill Thursday while the opposition factions are divided over attending the session amid their unanimous boycott.
The three parties which make up the first opposition force in Kurdistan parliament since its foundation in 1992 have boycotted session since March 29. The stance was taken in support to public anti-government protests in Kurdistan which after two months were banned last Monday.
Dler Mohammed, the decision-maker of the finance and economy parliamentary committee told AKnews almost all the related committees are done with their reports on Kurdistan budget bill. Therefore, the bill will be debated tomorrow, Thursday.
Kurdistan is entitled to 17% of the Iraqi total budget. Impediments in Iraqi budget ratification delayed Kurdish budget, too.
Asked if the bill can be ratified amid opposition's boycott, Mohammed said the bill cannot be further delayed.
"People are waiting, they wait for housing and marriage loans and for the governmental projects; therefore we haste in its (the bill) ratification," he said.
Since the onset of the boycott, parliament meets regularly and has passed some bills without opposition's vote. The most recent example was the law for the Kurdistan Region Integrity Board. The opposition describes all the approved bills in its absentia "illegal."
Kwestan Mohammed from Goran (Change) Movement told AKnews so far they have not decided whether to attend the session.
Goran will meet and voice its final decision in this respect, she added.
Goran, with 25 seats, has allied with the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) in opposition. Together the force holds 35 seats in the 111-seat parliament.
The three have called for government resignation- accusing the ruling parties of suppressing the public by force and heavy military deployment in the only protest-stricken province of Kurdistan, Sulaimaniya.
Aram Qadr, the head of the KIG faction told Komalnews website, they will attend the session.
AKnews asked Hama Ali, if KIU will be present for the budget debate, the lawmaker said "We as opposition have unanimously decided not to attend regular sessions."
Despite the boycott, the opposition lawmakers attended urgent meetings to discuss the unrest in Sulaimaniya.
The opposition will meet to decide on the subject, he added.
The opposition ranks as official political parties are funded by the government. However, Goran and KIU reported recently that their monthly budgets have been cut. But the KIG said till the end of April it has no idea if the budget is cut.
Kurdistan draft budget stands at 13,940 billion Iraqi Dinars (IQD) or about $11.8 billion (USD). About $3.6 billion of the overall KRG budget is for general investment, which includes: $2.3 billion for ongoing long-term projects, $247 million for provincial development projects, $851 million for new projects.
Some $8.2 billion of the overall budget is allocated to government departments, agencies, salaries, and other government expenditure. Of that, $38 million has been allotted to the expenses of Kurdistan parliament and $41 million to the Judicial Council.
The budget deficit stands at nearly $1.3 billion, most of it incurred by the Ministry of Peshmerga (armed forces).
The draft 2011 budget also stipulates that the government contribute 30 per cent of the insurance and pension fund. Some $21 million is assigned to small loans and the creation of jobs. The marriage loan, a loan made to newly-weds on low incomes, will increase from $850 to $2,125.
About $170 million is to be allotted to the political parties in Kurdistan. Under a law passed in the early 1990s, political parties in the region are funded by the government.
Erbil - The Kurdistan Regional parliament will discuss budget bill Thursday while the opposition factions are divided over attending the session amid their unanimous boycott.
The three parties which make up the first opposition force in Kurdistan parliament since its foundation in 1992 have boycotted session since March 29. The stance was taken in support to public anti-government protests in Kurdistan which after two months were banned last Monday.
Dler Mohammed, the decision-maker of the finance and economy parliamentary committee told AKnews almost all the related committees are done with their reports on Kurdistan budget bill. Therefore, the bill will be debated tomorrow, Thursday.
Kurdistan is entitled to 17% of the Iraqi total budget. Impediments in Iraqi budget ratification delayed Kurdish budget, too.
Asked if the bill can be ratified amid opposition's boycott, Mohammed said the bill cannot be further delayed.
"People are waiting, they wait for housing and marriage loans and for the governmental projects; therefore we haste in its (the bill) ratification," he said.
Since the onset of the boycott, parliament meets regularly and has passed some bills without opposition's vote. The most recent example was the law for the Kurdistan Region Integrity Board. The opposition describes all the approved bills in its absentia "illegal."
Kwestan Mohammed from Goran (Change) Movement told AKnews so far they have not decided whether to attend the session.
Goran will meet and voice its final decision in this respect, she added.
Goran, with 25 seats, has allied with the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) in opposition. Together the force holds 35 seats in the 111-seat parliament.
The three have called for government resignation- accusing the ruling parties of suppressing the public by force and heavy military deployment in the only protest-stricken province of Kurdistan, Sulaimaniya.
Aram Qadr, the head of the KIG faction told Komalnews website, they will attend the session.
AKnews asked Hama Ali, if KIU will be present for the budget debate, the lawmaker said "We as opposition have unanimously decided not to attend regular sessions."
Despite the boycott, the opposition lawmakers attended urgent meetings to discuss the unrest in Sulaimaniya.
The opposition will meet to decide on the subject, he added.
The opposition ranks as official political parties are funded by the government. However, Goran and KIU reported recently that their monthly budgets have been cut. But the KIG said till the end of April it has no idea if the budget is cut.
Kurdistan draft budget stands at 13,940 billion Iraqi Dinars (IQD) or about $11.8 billion (USD). About $3.6 billion of the overall KRG budget is for general investment, which includes: $2.3 billion for ongoing long-term projects, $247 million for provincial development projects, $851 million for new projects.
Some $8.2 billion of the overall budget is allocated to government departments, agencies, salaries, and other government expenditure. Of that, $38 million has been allotted to the expenses of Kurdistan parliament and $41 million to the Judicial Council.
The budget deficit stands at nearly $1.3 billion, most of it incurred by the Ministry of Peshmerga (armed forces).
The draft 2011 budget also stipulates that the government contribute 30 per cent of the insurance and pension fund. Some $21 million is assigned to small loans and the creation of jobs. The marriage loan, a loan made to newly-weds on low incomes, will increase from $850 to $2,125.
About $170 million is to be allotted to the political parties in Kurdistan. Under a law passed in the early 1990s, political parties in the region are funded by the government.
© AK News 2011
