KRG and Kurdistan Parliament condemn Federal Court's ruling on region’s oil and gas sector

"The Federal Supreme Court's decision is unfair, unconstitutional, against the rights and the constitutional authorities of the Kurdistan Region and this is not acceptable."
Kurdistan Parliament building. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)
Kurdistan Parliament building. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Kurdistan Parliament condemned the Iraqi Federal Court ruling on the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas sector in two separate statements. 

"The Federal Supreme Court (FSC) decision is unfair, unconstitutional, against the rights and the constitutional authorities of the Kurdistan Region and this is not acceptable," read the KRG statement. "The FSC should have further investigated the case and took the demands of the people of Kurdistan into consideration." 

The KRG statement indicated that the FSC's decision was based on laws issued during the Baathist era that contradict the principles of federalism in Iraq.

"The KRG will not give up the Kurdistan Region's rights, which are fixed in the Iraqi constitution," read the statement. "The KRG will use all constitutional, legal, and judicial procedures to protect the oil and gas contracts." 

In its ruling on Tuesday, the top court said the KRG is obligated to "hand over all oil production from oil fields in the Kurdistan Region and other areas from which the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources extracted oil" to the federal government.

In a separate statement, the Kurdistan Parliament also condemned the FSC's decision and warned it would cause significant damage to the federal system in Iraq. 

"The FSC's decision contradicts the principles of the federal system and the constitutional articles," read the parliament's statement. "These kinds of decisions and way of thinking cause significant damage to the federal system, governing process, and citizenship rights in Iraq." 

"The Kurdistan Parliament is the legislative authority in the region, recognized by the Iraqi constitution, in its article number (117/1) and per the Iraqi constitution's article number (121) Kurdistan Parliament has been given the right of legislating laws," the statement added. "Therefore, legislating the oil and gas law number (22) of 2007 by Kurdistan Parliament is in accordance with Iraq's constitution." 

The parliament concluded its statement by emphasizing the importance of having all parties abide by the constitution and protect the public interests of the state. 

"The voluntary unity of Iraq's federal system must be taken into consideration," it concluded.