Shafaq News- Baghdad
Promises to convert contract workers into permanent state employees and reinstate dismissed security personnel under Iraq’s 2026 budget are “economically unrealistic” and financially unsustainable, former Iraqi lawmaker and senior Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) figure Majid Shingali said on Sunday.
He argued that Iraq’s financial situation could not sustain any further increase in state salaries and public-sector wages, pointing to the government’s continuing failure to hire medical and health graduates from 2023, 2024, and 2025, with another graduating class expected this year.
On X, Shingali described discussions about converting contracts into permanent positions, transferring social welfare workers to ministries, or reinstating dismissed security personnel as “demagogic media” aimed at exploiting public sentiment rather than reflecting economic reality. Shingali said the government should focus on creating jobs in the private sector instead of expanding state employment.
The remarks come a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi pledged to launch an economic reform program centered on diversifying state revenues and supporting industry, agriculture, investment, and the private sector while creating jobs and reducing unemployment through development projects.