The Federal Court of Iraq on Wednesday issued a ruling, revoking the Federal Government’s earlier decision to send the Kurdistan Region’s share of the budget.

In response to the court’s decision, the Kurdistan Region Government issued a statement strongly opposing this verdict, calling it “unconstitutional and illegitimate”. The statement also added that “this court is not constitutionally formed and cannot decide as a federal court. The decision is not only against the Kurdistan Region, but also against the new Iraqi government and its constituent parties.”

Dr. Jutiar Adel, the Kurdistan Region Government Spokesman, said: “This illegitimate decision was made while both the KRG and the Federal Government reached a mutual understanding and an agreement to resolve pending issues in a positive atmosphere.” He added that such an unlawful decision from an illegitimate court will impact their mutual understanding.

Beside their response to the decision, the KRG spokesman also revealed that “within the framework of our agreements, we [KRG] asked them [the Federal Government] to make a new commandment on the legitimacy of the court, because it currently works outside of the law.

Dr. Adel announced the Kurdistan Region Government will continue its negotiation with the government of Iraq and that both sides should stick to their duties and responsibilities

Regarding the monthly payments, the KRG spokesman gave reassurance to the government employees. He explained that the Kurdistan Region Government issued payments even though it had only received 200 billion Iraqi Dinars twice in the past 14 months.

“The government will do everything in its power to make payments,” Dr. Adel promised.