Iraqi Parliament Struggles to Ratify Budget Amid Political Crisis
As political and sectarian crises escalate in Iraq, the country’s parliament is struggling to reach an agreement over this year’s budget, writes Omar al-Shaher.
The Iraqi budget for 2013 is a remarkable example of the negative impact of political conflicts on the economic interests of this country.
Despite the fact that we are now more than two weeks into the new year, Iraqi politicians and officials have yet to agree on a government plan for this year's spending. This is not a new occurrence in this country, which depends on oil exports to finance more than 95% of its yearly budget.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is facing considerable opposition from both Sunni Arabs and Kurds, with whom he is locked in a bitter struggle over power-sharing, as he attempts to pass the draft budget for 2013. This opposition actually succeeded in blocking Maliki's political plan that included a $37 billion deficit in the 2013 budget set aside for the implementation of projects related to infrastructure, to be based on the method of deferred payment.
Maliki has expressed his anger on several occasions over the blocking of his proposed budget. Last month he told Iraqis that, because of political disputes, this budget would not include new projects to improve their situation.
