The Council of Ministers on Wednesday discussed the trip by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) delegation to Baghdad in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

The Council of Ministers decided that the KRG delegation will pay another visit to Baghdad in the upcoming days to continue negotiations. The Council also appointed a Legal Ministerial Committee to prepare for the implementation of the ministerial platforms specific to drafting several bills, including oil and gas.

The Council welcomed the Iraqi federal government’s decision to re-establish a committee to implement Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution relating to the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad.

The meeting also discussed the draft bill of the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources which violates the Iraqi constitution. According to Article 114/7 of the lraqi constitution, formulating and regulating internal water resources policies for distribution shall be regulated by the law, while Article 115 states that when powers are shared between the federal and regional government, priority shall be given to the law of the regions and governorates not organized in a region in case of dispute.

Prime Minister Barzani urged the KRG and Iraqi government to cooperate and benefit from water resources, particularly at a time of a worsening climate crisis which Iraq is largely affected by.