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Kurds could bring down Al-Maliki over
Iraq's Hydrocarbon Law
7.9.2011
By Shwan Zulal - ekurd.net |
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September 7, 2011
Kurdistan region slammed the Iraqi central
government in strongest terms, on its handling of
the newly proposed oil and gas law and accused
Baghdad of dirty manoeuvring. The Kurdistan region
presidency office condemned the tactics used and
called on the Council of Ministers to withdraw the
government's version of the draft law immediately,
saying the draft contradicts the Iraqi constitution.
"We call on the Speaker (parliament) to discard the
draft law submitted by the Cabinet and to continue
the current parliamentary course (debating the
Energy Committee version of the Law), taking into
account any proposed amendments by all parties",
said The Kurdistan Regional Government KRG on Monday
in presidential office statement.
In August, the second oil draft surfaced, introduced
by the Parliamentary
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Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki (L) and Kurdistan president
Massoud Barzani. Photo: KRG |
Energy Committee and
backed by the Iraqiya List (headed by Ayad Allawi)
and the Kurd. And last week, the Iraqi Cabinet has
approved its own amended version of the oil and gas
law and has forwarded it to the house of
representative for its first reading.
Incumbent MPs walked out of the first reading for
the Energy Committee version of the law for not been
consulted and citing that lawmakers cannot introduce
new legislations but can only debate, amend and
approve new laws. This argument is supported by a
case law from the Iraqi Supreme Court, which has
annulled a previous attempt by MPs to introduce new
laws. Nevertheless, the Iraqi Cabinet was spurred
into action to speed up its version of the
hydrocarbon in an effort to try to supersede the
version already in parliament.
The oil and gas law was first introduced by the
previous Iraqi government in 2007 and since, the law
has stalled due to disagreement between Baghdad and
Erbil over the legality of the Kurdish PSCs
(Production Sharing Contract) and oil revenue
sharing among other things. Kurdistan region has
passed its own Hydrocarbon law since and awarded a
dozen more PSCs. in the absence of a clear winner in
2010 Iraqi elections, a deal was reached and the
Kurdish block agreed to support Al-Maliki,www.ekurd.netenabling
him to form the current Iraqi government.
Part of the deal was to make amendments to the
Hydrocarbon law and resolve the outstanding issues
between Baghdad and Erbil. However, the KRG on
Monday accused the government of dirty tricks for
not honouring the deal and failing to consult the
Kurdish bloc when approving the new draft. In the
statement, the KRG has also called on the council of
Ministers to withdraw the draft law immediately. The
KRG has pointed out that the law does not reflect
Erbil deal and the points agreed upon to form the
current Iraqi coalition.
Iraq's much awaited Hydrocarbon law is the main
focus of investors as the Kurdish PSCs awarded by
the KRG have been dispute between the central
government and the KRG. Iraqi government has
declared the contract unconstitutional but the KRG
deems the contracts awarded constitutional and
insistent on keeping control over its natural
resources. Moreover, many companies entering Kurdish
PSCs have been black listed and prevented from
taking part in the fourth licensing round for Iraqi
oil and gas contracts.
The KRG has made it clear in the statement that they
are willing to accept any law that will serve all
Iraqis. Nevertheless disagree with the way ministers
handled this new draft law and called on parliament
to debate the Energy Committee's hydrocarbon draft
allowing all interested party to discuss the law and
propose amendments accordingly.
The recent statement by the KRG is the strongest
rebuff yet of the Iraqi government and its ambitious
plan for centralising power and the oil and gas
industry in particular. The KRG reference to the
power sharing agreements made when entering the
coalition in the latest statement is a clear
indication that the Kurdish Bloc is willing to use
the nuclear option and pull out of the coalition
bring down AL-Maliki's beleaguered government.
Shwan Zulal
is a Kurdish Blogger, a regular contributing writer
for ekurd.net, interested in political and legal
Reform in Kurdistan, KRG, Iraq and current Kurdish
affairs, including oil exploration companies and
relevant legislations. You may visit Zulal's website
at http://kurdishviews.blogspot.com/
Copyright © 2011 ekurd.net
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