On Monday, Nov 17, PUK Co-Leader Lahur Talabany issued a statement regarding his visit to Baghdad, in which he held several meetings with Iraqi President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, and Head of Hikma National Movement Ammar Al-Hakim.

Below is the context of his statement:

"On my visit to Baghdad I realized that before we place blame on the Shias or the Sunnis, the Kurdistan Region’s negotiation team are the first to be blamed for not including the Kurdistan Regional Government’s public sector employee salaries in the fiscal deficit financing law in the Iraqi parliament while they had other options. Nevertheless, there is still time left.

The 7th article of the law provides good space for maneuvering; therefore, the Kurdistan Regional Government should responsibly come forward and send an authorized delegation for that purpose for the sake of the rights of our people.

The meeting with Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi was a successful one and one in which I defended our people’s rights and reiterated that these rights should not be sacrificed for the sake of the arrogance of any faction.

Al-Kadhimi promised, despite his concerns of the Kurdistan Region’s negotiation team, that within the next two weeks he will not spare any effort to secure the Kurdistan Region’s employee’s financial share, and not let the people’s salaries be delayed anymore".

Edited by: Dr. Yadasht Salih