Iraqi President Files Lawsuit Against PM Over KRG Civil Servant Salaries' Nationalisation

Iraqi Presidency

Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid.

Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court against the Iraqi Prime Minister, Finance Minister, and Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, requesting the implementation of salary nationalisation (Tawtin) for civil servants in the Kurdistan Region.

The lawsuit, which was published by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court, consists of four points and requests an immediate state order requiring the Iraqi Ministry of Finance to pay the salaries of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) civil servants, as well as requiring the Iraqi Ministry of Finance to pay the salaries of the KRG's civil servants on a continuous basis without delay.

Furthermore, the president's lawsuit calls for the execution of nationalising salaries in accordance with the Iraqi Federal Bank's standards, which specify that nationalising salaries for KRG civil servants should be similar to actions implemented by the Iraqi government.

Nationalisation, or Tawtin, is the Iraqi government's initiative to pay civil servant salaries through bank accounts. The effort aims to modernise Iraq's financial infrastructure and increase transparency in the public sector payroll system. Iraq's Tawtin project does not yet involve civil servants of the Kurdistan Region.

"We have filed a lawsuit against Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani over the salaries of the KRG's civil servants and the trial is scheduled for February 12," Hawre Tofiq, director general of relations and international organisations at the Iraqi presidency, told a news conference.

"At the same time, the court requested the parliament to amend Article 12/C of the federal budget law, which was related to the cost of producing a barrel of oil for the Kurdistan Region, but fortunately the parliament has made the amendment recently.

The KRG's civil servants have been experiencing over a decade-long of inconsistent salary payments, with many months over the years still unpaid. The KRG has began distributing January salaries following agreement with Baghdad, skipping salaries of last December, blaming the Iraqi Government for not sending them.

Protesting the situation, a group of teachers and civil servants of the KRG have been staging a sit-in outside the United Nations office in Sulaymaniyah since 10 January 2025. Thirteen of them, including 3 women, went on a hunger strike since then, staying under a set-up tent in freezing cold weather. A number of the protesters marched towards Erbil on Sunday morning, 9 February 2025, to showcase their demands in the Kurdistan Region's capital, but they were prevented from entering the city at the Degala checkpoint between Sulaymaniyah and Erbil.

The protestors are demanding no more delays in salary distribution, Nationalisation (Tawtin) of civil servant salaries in the Kurdistan Regions, as well as financial and administrative rights.




PUKMEDIA