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Erbil,
Kurdistan-Iraq, (KRG).
At a press conference in Erbil, Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani said "social justice will become
the number one priority of my administration". He
made the announcement after the Kurdistan National
Assembly confirmed him as the Prime Minister of the
next government.
At the press conference held jointly with the new
Deputy Prime Minister Omer Fetah, Mr Barzani said,
"This unified administration, which is a direct
product of decades of struggle and sacrifices made
by thousands, will be guided by the principles of
national unity and social justice. We will make sure
that this cabinet is a cabinet of the people for the
people.”
Mr Barzani also promised more public control of
government affairs.
The two administrations, which were governing the
Kurdistan Region separately, are now merging after
signing a unification agreement in January 2006.
The budget will also be unified by 2007. Deputy
Prime Minister Omer Fetah said, “Due to technical
difficulties during 2006, the budget will remain
split between Suleimaniah and the rest of the
region. I am sure that there will be a unified
budget next year."
Mr Barzani said he plans to form a broad and
inclusive government, adding "I invite all political
parties to join our effort to form the next
cabinet.”
Security and welfare burning issues
Mr Barzani said he would do his outmost to maintain
the relative security that has prevailed in the
Kurdistan Region since Saddam Hussein’s fall in
spring 2003. Not a single coalition soldier has been
killed in the region, which is secured by the
Peshmerga military forces.
Providing high standards of welfare to the region
and allocating special budgets for reconstruction in
deprived areas would be the Cabinet's priorities,
according to Mr Barzani.
“I know that we have not been able to give full
electricity services to the people of Kurdistan.
However, we need more than two or three years to
reconstruct a devastated country,” Mr Barzani said,
referring to the double sanctions imposed on the
Kurdistan Region by the UN and Baghdad from the
first Gulf War in 1991 until the downfall of Saddam
Hussein in 2003, which weakened the economy.
www.krg.org
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