PUK: Oil deal key to resolving salary crisis
Shafaq News – Al-Sulaymaniyah
On Sunday, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) voiced support for any workable solution to resolve the Kurdistan Region's stalled May salaries, calling the wage crisis 'one of the worst' in its history.
At a press conference, Ziyad Jabbar from the PUK Political Bureau blamed the impasse on the absence of a transparent revenue-sharing system between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq's federal authorities, arguing that no lasting resolution is possible without a binding oil agreement with Baghdad.
'Citizens have now gone two months without pay, creating a suffocating crisis that is disrupting daily life,' Jabbar warned, urging all parties to set aside 'narrow political interests' and agree on a plan that protects employee rights.
The dispute deepened after Baghdad conditioned salary transfers on the KRG fully delivering its oil to SOMO and accepting tighter controls on non-oil revenues. The KRG countered that these terms exceed prior commitments. As a temporary measure, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani approved a federal loan to cover May wages, pending further resolution.
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