Washington D.C.
On Tuesday, February 15, the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ruled the oil and gas law of the Kurdistan Regional Government unconstitutional, obligating Kurdistan to hand over all oil production from oil fields in the Kurdistan region and other areas to the federal government.
The court’s decision is blatantly politically driven and aims to unabashedly undermine Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a policy Baghdad has practiced against the Kurds since 2005.
Both Article 111 and 112 of the Iraqi constitution are clear and allow for the KRG’s right to explore and produce oil on their own land, Kurdistan.
Article 111
Oil and gas are owned by all the people of Iraq in all the regions and governorates.
Article 112
Ownership of natural resources. First: The federal government, with the producing governorates and regional governments, shall undertake the management of oil and gas extracted from present fields, provided that it distributes its revenues in a fair manner in proportion to the population distribution in all parts of the country, specifying an allotment for a specified period for the damaged regions which were unjustly deprived of them by the former regime, and the regions that were damaged afterwards in a way that ensures balanced development in different areas of the country, and this shall be regulated by a law.
The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq issued the unjust ruling ten years after a lawsuit was filed by anti-Kurdish politicians, as the country continues to suffer from political, economic and security issues.
It is no secret that the decision was made at this time due to regional (Iranian) pressure on the court to continue anti-Kurdish policies which have reached their most dangerous level since 2017.
The Washington Kurdish Institute reminds the Iraqi Supreme Court and all the parties in Iraq that the word “unconstitutionality” is the correct description for the government’s lack of implementing several constitutional rights of the people, including Article 140, which has been ignored for seventeen years. Moreover, cutting the budget of Kurdistan and starving its people is a policy that the former Ba’ath party, and it’s former leader, Saddam Hussein, imposed on the Kurds. Finally, such rulings will only cause Iraq to continue its downward spiral and will ultimately lead to its demise.
Sierwan Najmaldin Karim
President
Washington Kurdish Institute
February 16, 2022