Page 4 - MEOG Week 24

MEOG Commentary MEOG
Barzanis retain
control over
Kurdish politics
Nechirvan and his cousin Masrour have assumed the roles of president and prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Kurdistan
What:
Masrour barzani’s father Masoud stepped down in late 2017 amid rumours of corruption after a failed independence bid.
Why:
The post of President had remained un lled since then, but Nechirvan’s appointment completes the barzani stranglehold on power.
What next:
while his push for independence has been defeated for now, Masoud remains the gurehead and Kurdish politics is more polarised than ever.
IRaqI Kurdistan’s Barzani family has tightened its grip on power, following the recent appoint- ments of Masrour as Prime Minister and his cousin Nechirvan as President. While the pair now hold the o cial top spots in government, Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG) understands that Masrour’s father Masoud, remains kingpin.
Masoud Barzani resigned from o ce in late 2017 following his failed independence push, which saw Iraqi forces move in to take control of the key Kirkuk oil elds. ere were also numer- ous reports of his involvement in corruption that saw the funnelling of money intended for the people of Kurdistan into his family’s co ers (see: MEOG Week 43, 2017).
Despite this, Masoud appears immovable atop the complex pyramid of Kurdish politics and tensions remain between the ruling Kurd- istan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Talabani family’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
e KDP’s Nechirvan won 68 votes from the 81 members present in the 111-seat chamber in late May, with the PUK and New Generation Movement having boycotted the election.
Meanwhile on June 11, Masoud, also nominated by the KDP, was elected as prime
minister a er winning 87 votes from the 97 MPs in attendance. e two Islamic parties Komal and the KIU abstained.
Baghdad buy-in
MEOG understands that the choice of the ‘new’ heads of state is not going down particu- larly well with Kurds, who are fatigued with the tribal nature of local politics. However, their, and indeed the wider Barzani family’s ability to hold on to power will depend to great extent on the region receiving its share of the federal Iraqi budget.
While tempers have often frayed between Erbil and Baghdad, the Iraqi parliament approved a dra 2019 budget in January, follow- ing months of negotiations. is ring-fenced the salaries of Peshmerga forces and Kurdistan’s civil servants, protecting them from potential politi- cal disputes between Baghdad and the KRG.
Erbil receives a 12.67% share of the total national budget and is dependent on the KRG exporting 250,000 bpd of oil through Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) and giving the revenues to the central treasury.
However, this condition has not yet been met,
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 24 18•June•2019