Prime Minister Barzani meets KRG delegation to Baghdad, calls for continued dialogue to protect constitutional rights

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (GOV.KRD) - Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday met with the delegation that visited Baghdad last week to address disputes with federal authorities.

Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, who led the delegation, briefed Prime Minister Barzani on the their discussions. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is committed to continuing dialogue with Baghdad to defend Kurdistan Region’s constitutional rights.

The delegation will return to Baghdad this week for follow-up.

In the meeting, the cabinet discussed the current financial situation and decided to use current funds to pay public sector salaries. Last month, the federal government cut the KRG’s share of the federal budget, which mainly accounts for these salaries.

The cabinet also stressed the importance of continuing to implement the Reform Law (2020) and decided to recover debt from companies as quickly as possible to ease the government’s financial burden.

Finally, the cabinet reviewed recent calls from some local authorities in the Kurdistan Region for greater decentralisation. In that regard, they recalled that this is part of the government stated agenda and must emerge under the supervision and guidance of the Council of Ministers.

Cabinet reiterated support for the unity of the Kurdistan Region and opposed any effort to undermine it.