A new deadlock postpones the Budget bill's approval

Shafaq News/ A new disagreement halted the progress of the negotiation marathon over the 2021 budget.

A parliamentary source told Shafaq News Agency that the Parliament's presidium meeting with the parliamentary bloc's leaders and the Finance Committee struck another impasse of the budget bill, prompting them to adjourn the voting session. 

The new deadlock revolves around the allocations of 30,000 fighters of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF) whose contracts were terminated and the external loans of some Ministries.

Earlier today, MP for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Rizan Sheikh Delir, confirmed that the political parties' intentions and conflicts with the government hinder the budget bill's approval. 

In a statement, Sheikh Delir stressed the need for the Iraqi people to know that the region's share is not an obstacle to passing the budget, adding, "the Kurdistan Region's delegation had visited Baghdad dozens of times to agree on this matter."

"The obstacle facing the budget passage is the intentions of the political parties and their conflicts with the government", she pointed out. 

The Parliamentary Finance Committee had confirmed its intention to pass the budget law, at Sunday's session, despite political blocs' attempts to obstruct the session.

The Parliament's Presidium had reportedly scheduled the voting session on the budget bill at 09:00 PM later today, Sunday.