Shafaq News/ Dozens of civilactivists protested on Wednesday in front of the United Nations building inErbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, against the Iraqi Ministry ofFinance for failing to send full salaries for government employees and privatesector workers to the Region.
Shafaq News correspondent reportedthat the activists submitted a protest memorandum to the United Nations andseveral foreign consulates, including those of the US, France, the UK, andItaly, addressing the delay in paying employees' salaries in the KurdistanRegion.
In this regard, Rezkar Sheikh Ali,head of the International Peshmerga Organization, said in a press conferencethat the Iraqi government's delay in paying salaries “punishes the KurdistanRegion’s government and people,” calling the action “chauvinistic andintentional” by the federal government and officials like Finance Minister TaifSami.
Al-Sulaymaniyah province and itssuburbs are witnessing widespread strikes in several institutions due to atwo-month delay in salary payments.
Shafaq News' correspondent in theprovince stated that this delay, which affects Al-Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, andthe independent administrations in Garmian and Raperin, has led manyinstitutions to announce a work stoppage.
“The strike affected not onlyschools but also service institutions like the electricity and forestrydepartments, as well as the West Kurdistan Municipality and Garmian Administration,which suspended their operations,” he explained.
The salary delay crisis continues tobe a recurring issue in the Kurdistan Region, with wide-ranging social andeconomic repercussions. Sulaymaniyah and its surroundings are particularlyaffected due to the high dependence of many employees and citizens on salariesas their primary income.
This crisis coincided withincreasing economic pressures and rising living costs, further complicating thesituation and presenting significant challenges for the government to resolvethe issue and avoid escalating protests.
Salaries Dilemma
The issue of salaries forKurdistan’s civil servants has long been a contentious and complex challenge.The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has grappled with a severe financialcrisis, worsened by the suspension of its oil exports in March 2023 following acourt ruling on a dispute between Iraq and Turkiye.
In February 2024, Iraq's FederalSupreme Court ordered the KRG to provide detailed salary data to enable Baghdadto release the Region's share of the federal budget. However, delays inpayments have persisted, with the KRG accusing Baghdad of irregular disbursements.
The court also mandated the"domicilization" of salaries, requiring KRG employees to openaccounts in Iraqi state-owned banks. This measure aimed to improve paymenttransparency but has faced significant implementation challenges.
In September 2024, high-leveldelegations from Baghdad and Erbil met to address unresolved issues, includingsalaries. While Baghdad has since disbursed salaries to KRG employees, delaysremain frequent, leaving the Region reliant on local revenues and its disputed12.6% federal budget allocation.