ZCZC
BFF-34
IRAQ-KURDS-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT
Iraqi Kurdistan gets new cabinet, without oil minister
ARBIL, Iraq, July 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A new regional government came into
power Wednesday in Iraqi Kurdistan, but the key post of oil minister remained
unassigned and therefore de facto managed by new prime minister Masrour
Barzani.
Barzani was appointed premier nearly a month ago by his cousin Nechirvan
Barzani, who had served as prime minister for seven years before he was
elected president in June.
Masrour Barzani is the son of veteran Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, who
remains a crucial powerbroker in the autonomous region.
On Wednesday, 88 of the regional government’s 111-member body granted a
vote of confidence to 21 new ministers.
Among them, the Barzani-led Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) was awarded
nine ministerial posts.
In October 2017, the KDP spearheaded a controversial independence
referendum that prompted Baghdad to reoccupy large swathes of Kurdish-held
territory and led to Masoud’s resignation as president.
Nearly a year later, the party emerged victorious in regional parliamentary
elections and has since cemented its control of key government posts,
including the presidency, premiership and cabinet chief.
Its main rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was awarded six
ministers. Qubad Talabani, the son of PUK founder Jalal Talabani, will retain
his post as deputy premier.
Four of the new ministers hail from the Goran (Change) Movement and one
from the Kurdistan Socialist Party.
Based on a sectarian quota system, one post was also awarded to the
region’s Christian minority.
But the ministry of natural resources — of which oil is the most important
and lucrative — remains without an official head, making PM Barzani its de
facto manager.
The regional government in Arbil is currently locked in a dispute over oil
revenues with Iraq’s federal authorities, which insist that the KRG must hand
over revenues from the 250,000 bpd it exports through the north.
In exchange, the KRG would receive a portion of the federal budget and
Baghdad would pay the salaries of its employees.
The parties regularly accuse each other of failing to fulfil their
obligations.
Observers have pointed out that Nechirvan Barzani’s ascent to the
presidency could ease the ties between the two, but Masrour Barzani — who
embodies the KDP’s more “nationalist” current — would adopt a harder line
and be less willing to negotiate.
On Wednesday, PM Barzani said a delegation from Arbil would travel to
Baghdad soon to strengthen ties.
Ministers would then tackle the profound financial crisis ravaging the
Kurdish region’s economy in recent years.
“The government currently owes $14 billion in debts,” he said.
BSS/AFP/RY/1840 hrs