Iraqi court strikes down Kurdistan budget transfers
Justice Jassim Mohammed Abbout (right) and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (left) meet at the Federal Supreme Court on Jan. 22, 2023. (Photo credit: Federal Supreme Court)
Iraq's Federal Supreme Court (FSC) ruled Wednesday that recent federal budget transfers to the Kurdistan region were illegal, dealing yet another setback to an attempted political reconciliation between Baghdad and Erbil.
The decision invalidates several orders from former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government to authorize payments to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s Cabinet recently authorized similar transfers, which the court ruling did not mention explicitly, but which now seem unlikely to happen.
