JWing
12-21-2010, 10:54 AM
By Khayoun Saleh
Azzaman, December 20, 2010
Kurdish legislators say the ruling factions in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq have failed to present the Kurdish regional parliament with a transparent budget.
This year’s budget is overdue and opposition members of parliament charge that the two ruling factions of Adris Barzani, the region’s head, and Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, are not keen to reveal all the sources of income.
The Kurds are entitled to 17% of every dollar Iraq gains from its oil sales. They are also entitled to customs duties, income tax and collection of bills for the provision of public utilities such as water and electricity.
Sameer Saleem of the opposition Kurdistan Islamic Union bloc said “there is ambiguity on public royalties reaching the region from oil, customs and taxes.”
He said opposition legislators will ask for answers and justification for “every chapter and section” in the budget once it reaches the parliament.
Another opposition legislator, Ismael Kalali, said the factions headed by Barzani and Talabani, currently ruling the region, see the budget and public finances as “part of (their) whims and not national duty.”
Last year, the opposition forced the government to present its budget to the parliament. Earlier, the budgets were only approved by the government.
Parliamentary supervision is reported to have made it rather difficult for the government not to reveal all sources and volumes of income.
However, spending is still in government hands and once the budget is approved, it becomes increasingly hard for the legislators to exercise their checks and balances.
A senior Kurdish government official, refusing to be named, said the delay in presenting the budget to the parliament was “a political decision” rather than a matter concerning transparency.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-12-20\kurd.htm
Azzaman, December 20, 2010
Kurdish legislators say the ruling factions in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq have failed to present the Kurdish regional parliament with a transparent budget.
This year’s budget is overdue and opposition members of parliament charge that the two ruling factions of Adris Barzani, the region’s head, and Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, are not keen to reveal all the sources of income.
The Kurds are entitled to 17% of every dollar Iraq gains from its oil sales. They are also entitled to customs duties, income tax and collection of bills for the provision of public utilities such as water and electricity.
Sameer Saleem of the opposition Kurdistan Islamic Union bloc said “there is ambiguity on public royalties reaching the region from oil, customs and taxes.”
He said opposition legislators will ask for answers and justification for “every chapter and section” in the budget once it reaches the parliament.
Another opposition legislator, Ismael Kalali, said the factions headed by Barzani and Talabani, currently ruling the region, see the budget and public finances as “part of (their) whims and not national duty.”
Last year, the opposition forced the government to present its budget to the parliament. Earlier, the budgets were only approved by the government.
Parliamentary supervision is reported to have made it rather difficult for the government not to reveal all sources and volumes of income.
However, spending is still in government hands and once the budget is approved, it becomes increasingly hard for the legislators to exercise their checks and balances.
A senior Kurdish government official, refusing to be named, said the delay in presenting the budget to the parliament was “a political decision” rather than a matter concerning transparency.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-12-20\kurd.htm