Kurdish MP accuses "neighboring countries" of undermining Erbil's oil and gas law

Shafaq News/ The deputy rapporteur of Kurdistan's parliamentary committee of energy and natural resources, Gulizar Rasheed Sindi, accused "neighboring countries" of pressuring Baghdad to revoke Kurdistan's oil and gas law, denouncing the federal government's handling of the issue as "unconstitutional".

In a statement she issued earlier today, the lawmaker said that Baghdad is pursuing an "unconstitutional" and "centralist" approach under the pressure of "trans-border" decisions.

"The region's oil and gas law has become a threat to the economic and political interests of neighboring countries. Therefore, they oppose the law via influential parties in the federal authorities that follow their policies."

Sindi said that the political parties in Baghdad should embrace "pure national willingness" in order to hold an agreement with the Kurdish parties in the Iraqi parliament over "a legislation that respects the Iraqi people's rights".

"The law is still in force in the region. All the authorities, in addition to the oil companies, abide by it too," she added.

"The Iraqi constitution grants the regional government the right to enact laws irrelevant to the exclusive rights of the federal government stipulated by Article 110."

"The region's oil and gas law did not create anything new and outside the provisions of the constitution," she concluded, "oil issues are not among the exclusive powers stipulated by Article 110. Therefore, the law is not a problem."