Passing Iraq’s budget is “not easy”… Disputes and objections hinder its legislation
Passing Iraq’s budget is “not easy”… Disputes and objections hinder its legislation
2023-04-18 02:43
Shafaq News/ The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed, on Tuesday, that there are political differences and objections to the draft state budget law, noting that passing it “will not be easy”.
Committee member Jamal Cougar told Shafaq News agency, “The budget law is not devoid of political differences, especially since there is an objection by various political parties to making the budget for three years, as well as a political objection to the shares of the financial governorates.”
And Cougar indicated that “after the second reading of the budget law, the budget law will enter into dialogues and negotiations between the political forces for the purpose of agreement and agreement on it, and to discuss the possibility of amending some paragraphs of the law, and for this reason passing the budget will not be easy with the presence of political differences over it.”
For his part, the researcher in economic and political affairs, Nabil Jabbar Al-Tamimi, confirmed that there are political and technical objections to the budget law that will hinder the legislation of the law in the House of Representatives.
Al-Tamimi told Shafaq News agency, “The budget law before the parliament, which was read for a second reading, faces a political disagreement over wealth distribution shares,” explaining that “the government seeks to increase the shares and allocations of ministries at the expense of the shares and allocations of governorates.”
And he indicated that “the Sunni political parties are seeking to increase the allocations of the provinces (development of the regions) and the shares of (the liberated provinces reconstruction fund).
He added, “Some Shiite parties, within the coordination framework, are afraid to approve a budget for three years, fearing that the current Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, will sign an open exchange instrument for three years, which al-Sudani will benefit from to enhance his political position and influence during the coming years at the expense of other Shiite parties.”
The researcher in economic and political affairs concluded that “there are technical parliamentary objections, related to the size of the operating budget estimated at 150 trillion, while it could be around 105 trillion only at the highest estimate, and all of these objections will be a major reason for obstructing the passage of the budget during the coming period.”
The Iraqi Council of Representatives completed the first and second readings of the draft federal budget law for the Republic of Iraq, which was submitted by the government of Muhammad Shia al-Sudani for the fiscal years (2023, 2024, 2025).
shafaq.com
