In Iraq, the long-awaited vote on the budget bill has been postponed. The Kurdistan Autonomous Regional Government opposes the amendments made to the text by the Finance Committee. He denounces violations of the rights of the Kurds. Because the amended articles relate to the question of oil.
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With our correspondent in Baghdad, Marie-Charlotte Rupee
In Iraq, oil is the nerve of the war and it is, once again, the cause of friction between Iraqi Kurdistan and the central power. Amendments made to the budget law by the parliamentary finance committee have angered the Kurdish authorities.
According the press release they publish, these amendments would call into question the temporary agreement reached between Erbil and Baghdad at the beginning of April. This agreement was intended to allow the resumption of oil exports from the fields operated by the autonomous Kurdistan regional government. It provided for control of sales by Baghdad, but also that the income would be paid into an account controlled by the Kurdish authorities.
But the revision of the text would oblige Erbil in particular to deposit these revenues at the Iraqi Central Bank. According to several analysts, this would cause Kurdistan to lose even more control over the exploitation of its oil fields. This umpteenth twist caused the postponement of the vote originally scheduled for this Saturday. Iraq has had no budget for over a year and a half.
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