The right to demonstrate
- Demonstrating and sit-ins are constitutional rights to express one’s opinion
- It is part of human rights if it is peaceful and approved in advance by the competent authorities
It is not permissible to be deprived or restricted except in accordance with the law, as confirmed by Articles 15 and 38 of the Iraqi Constitution.
The roots of the crisis
The roots of the current crisis are attributed to the approach taken by the two ruling Kurdish parties
The two parties tightened their grip on the region’s resources and financial revenues to finance and expand their influence
- They monopolized high-income public jobs for their popular voter base
- Their complete control over investment projects in the public and private sectors
Sulaymaniyah Governorate received the largest share as a result of rampant corruption and the imposition of royalties by “mafias” on investors and businessmen.
Pavel Talabani admitted this when he announced the formation of a committee to investigate the involvement of a large number of “mafia men” in “dirty” work, as he described it.
The Kurdistan Region has been suffering from an economic crisis since 2016, due to the decline in the price of oil and the war with ISIS
His relationship with Baghdad is going through sharp disagreements over the region’s budget and the delivery of oil to Baghdad
The intensity of disputes between the two parties often decreases in times of financial abundance
- Due to the Corona pandemic and the subsequent stifling economic crisis resulting from the collapse of oil prices
Al-Kadhimi informed the region’s delegation of the difficulty of paying the region’s financial dues
Reasons for the Sulaymaniyah protests
- A Kurdish spring in the winter due to the non-payment of employee salaries
Employees in Kurdistan receive only four salaries out of 12 salaries per year
- Lack of transparency in the region’s oil file
- Agreement with Turkish companies for a period of (50 years) and with huge financial commitments
Sulaymaniyah Governorate procedures
- She threatened “legal consequences” if the demonstrations continued
- The security forces set up checkpoints and obstacles to close the square in which the demonstration was planned
- Dozens of protesters were arrested
The governorate announced that the arrests were due to “organizing unlicensed demonstrations and violating coronavirus prevention measures.”
Sulaymaniyah's accusations against Erbil
- Lack of transparency in managing the terms of the agreement with Türkiye
Where do oil revenues go?
- How many employees do Erbil have?
- Do Erbil employees suffer the same suffering as Sulaymaniyah employees?
Solution and obstacles
- Delivering the region's oil all at once to Baghdad
- Baghdad refused to receive, due to the region’s exorbitant obligations and the lack of clarity of the terms of the agreements with foreign companies.
- The crisis continues and the poor living situation threatens to detonate the situation again
