Parliament Speaker and Political Blocs Meet to Resolve Budget Disputes

Shafaq News/ On Saturday, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammad al-Halboosi and his first deputy, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, convened a meeting with political blocs to discuss the lingering issues of the federal budget.

This is the second meeting within hours.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the meeting, attended by Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein and heads of the political blocs in the Coordination Framework, aims to find a final resolution and formulate a consensus. Depending on the outcome, a session is expected to be scheduled within the next hour or postponed until tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Sharif Suleiman, representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Bloc, revealed to Shafaq News Agenvy that Minister Hussein held a separate meeting with the Speaker of Parliament to discuss Article 14 of the budget law concerning the Kurdistan Region.

Suleiman stated that the Kurdistan Democratic Party has agreed to propose an amendment to Paragraph 7 of Article 14, which would establish a joint committee between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. This committee would submit recommendations to the Prime Minister within a 30-day timeframe.

The Kurdistan Democratic Bloc has communicated its position to the Speaker of Parliament, urging for the inclusion of this amendment in the budget law.

The ongoing discussions and negotiations among the parliamentary factions reflect the efforts to address the disputed points and reach a consensus on the budget, which has been a contention in recent sessions.