Iraqi president signs controversial Anti-LGBTQ law, 2024 budget

Shafaq News/ Iraqi President Abdullatif Rashid on Thursday approved an amendment to the anti-LGBTQ law, which criminalizes same-sex relations and punishes advocates with a 7-year sentence.

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Iraq, as in all Arab countries. However, the country's new law on Combating Prostitution and Homosexuality bans same-sex relations with at least 10 years and a maximum of 15 years in prison, and mandates at least seven years in prison for anybody who promotes homosexuality or prostitution.

The law, passed by the parliament in late April, was backed by influential Shiite clergyman, Muqtada al-Sadr, and rival conservative Shiite parties in the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework.

The bill had initially included the death penalty for same-sex acts but was amended before being passed after strong opposition from the United States and European nations.

A press by the Iraqi Presidency said that Rashid also signed the 2024 budget, which was passed by the parliament on June 4, and an extension of the Independent High Electoral Commission's mandate.

The move came as IHEC, which is supervising the Kurdistan region's elections per a decision by Iraq's top court, announced has completed preparations for the vote.

Earlier this month, Nechirvan Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous region, set October 20 as the new date for the long-overdue parliamentary elections. It was initially scheduled for late 2022, but disputes between the two main ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led to several delays.

The press release said that President Rashid is committed to backing laws that "serve the interests of the country and its people either via ratifying laws approved by the parliament or presenting laws to the parliament [...]".

On June 3, the Iraqi parliament endorsed a bill for the 2024 budget.

According to the documents published on the parliament's official website, the total government spending is set at 211 trillion Iraqi dinars (about 161 billion U.S. dollars) with a deficit of about 64 trillion dinars.

The documents showed that the budget was based on an oil price of 80 U.S. dollars per barrel, without providing further details about the daily quantities of crude oil exports.

According to Iraqi law, the annual budget must be approved by the president before going into effect.

Iraq's economy heavily relies on crude oil exports, which account for more than 90 percent of the country's revenues.