Political debate and accusations about obstructing the approval of the financial budget for Iraq
Political debate and accusations about obstructing the approval of the financial budget for Iraq
4-1-2023
Iraqi political parties have warned against the continued obstruction of approving the country’s financial budget for the year 2023, and its repercussions on the country’s interests, stressing that political differences prevent the possibility of passing it, amid calls to get out of the crisis.
And the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved, on the 13th of last March, the largest financial budget in the history of the country, which exceeded 197 trillion and 828 billion Iraqi dinars (about 152.2 billion dollars), with a total deficit of 63 trillion Iraqi dinars, taking advantage of the rise in oil prices globally, Which constitutes more than 95% of the country’s financial revenues, amid objections from financial and law experts regarding the budget items.
The budget was sent to parliament for approval, but there has been no movement so far in this regard amid political controversy over it. According to a deputy in the Parliamentary Finance Committee, the committee has not yet received the budget, nor has it studied it. He revealed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, on condition of anonymity, that political controversy and disagreements have stalled the draft financial budget, which is supposed to be transferred from the Presidency of Parliament to the Finance Committee for study before it is presented for reading and voting, indicating that its passage is not possible without a political consensus on it between the parties. The “State Administration” coalition, which includes the “ Coordination Framework ,” the Kurdish forces, and the “Sovereignty” coalition.
He pointed out that “consensus on it requires agreement on other laws, and the parties to the State Administration coalition converged before passing the election law, but the coordination framework seemed hesitant after that to pass the oil and gas law that the Kurds want to pass, and the general amnesty law that the Sovereignty Alliance wants to pass . ” , which affected the possibility of passing the budget law,” ruling out “presenting the budget to a vote during the next few period, without there being dialogue and consensus on it.”
As for the representative of the “Tasmeem” coalition, Ali Al-Mashkoor, he stressed that the current political situation does not indicate the possibility of passing the budget. In a statement to a local radio, he said, “The biggest mistake that the parliament and the political blocs made was when they voted on the provincial and district council elections law before the budget law, and set a date for local elections, as it is very likely that the elections will not be held on time due to the lack of approval of the budget and the failure to allocate it.” enough money to do it.”
And he continued, saying: “The Iraqi government was supposed to seek, within its government program, to send the budget law for one year only, and not to put the stone in the wheel and send it for three years, which caused the parliament to object to it, and its approval was delayed,” considering that “the political atmosphere is currently not suitable for approving the budget.” At the present time, because there is no political consensus on it.”
In turn, a member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, Representative Zainab al-Moussawi, warned of negative repercussions if the budget continues to be suspended. And she said, in a press statement, that “disrupting the approval of the federal financial budget for the year 2023 completely paralyzes the economic sectors in the country, in addition to the direct and widespread impact on the lives of citizens, in light of the dependence of thousands of workers on investment projects related to the budget.”
And she stressed that “the financial budget represents the main tool for achieving the state’s general policies, whether economic, social or service, and it is a presentation of the government’s annual plans and programs that it prepares in response to challenges,” calling for “the need to include it on the parliament’s agenda in the upcoming sessions.”
It is noteworthy that the Iraqi parliament, throughout its previous sessions, adopted political consensus as a basic principle for passing laws, which influenced the passing of important laws needed by citizens.
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