ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Iraqi parliament’s speakership on Wednesday said that the federal government’s suspension of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servant salaries is in violation of the Iraqi constitution, calling on Baghdad to reverse the decision.

The Iraqi finance ministry last week said it will suspend funding the Kurdistan Region for the remainder of 2025, claiming that the Region has already exceeded its share of the annual federal budget.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Iraqi parliament’s speakership expressed “deep regret” over Baghdad’s decision.

“This measure will inevitably harm citizens in the [Kurdistan] Region and create an economic crisis. It violates Federal Court rulings and the constitution, which guarantees the rights of all citizens in all provinces,” read the statement.

The speakership urged the Iraqi federal government to reverse the decision, especially in light of Eid al-Adha approaching.

“People's livelihood and entitlements must not be tied to political and technical issues. Negotiations and understandings are the best way to resolve problems and issues between Baghdad and Erbil,” the statement concluded.

The fair distribution of the Kurdistan Region’s share of the federal budget has long been a point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad.

Years of conflict and unresolved issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and economic sanctions and pressure on Erbil by federal authorities, have pushed employees in the Region to live from paycheck to paycheck.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday described the decision as “unconstitutional and illegal,” and slammed the measure as a “collective punishment” of citizens in the Region, while emphasizing that Erbil has fulfilled all its obligations toward Baghdad.

In early February, KRG’s Finance Minister Awat Sheikh Janab announced that they had reached an agreement with the Iraqi federal government to finance the salaries of the Region's civil servants for the entirety of 2025 "without any issues.” 

During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said February’s agreement is based on rulings from the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court which prohibit using budget issues between Erbil and Baghdad as an excuse to stop financing civil servant salaries, also noting that the Iraqi constitution has established the principle of treating all the people of Iraq equally.