Deputy Speaker Hawrami meets with US Consulate General's Political and Economic Officer Andrew Lentz
Deputy Speaker Hemin Hawrami and MPs of the Kurdistan Parliament on 11 February met with Mr. Andrew Lentz, Political and Economic Officer of the US Consul General in Erbil.
Ms. Lanja Dizayee (KDP), Mr. Bapir Kamala (Socialist Democrats), Dr. Muhiyaddin Nanakali (Communist Party), and Mr. Azad Kurachy (Turkmen Nation Party) participated in the meeting.
Mr. Hawrami said that Kurdistan’s coalition government has shown its determination to carry out reforms, starting with the recently passed Reform Law. There was good cross-party cooperation on the law by MPs during its passage through Parliament, he added.
Deputy Speaker Hawrami said, “This is a genuine start to the reform process that will include other sectors in the future.”
Other reforms are expected to be amendments to the investment law and reform of taxes and customs.
MPs Mr. Kamala and Dr. Nanakali said that the law brings more justice to government salaries and pensions, and reduces the gap between the pensions of the highest and lowest earners.
Mr. Kamala, a member of the Peshmerga Committee, said that unifying all of the Peshmerga’s financial accounts into one, as set out in the Reform Law, will eventually result in better services for the soldiers and a stronger force.
Deputy Speaker Hawrami said that Kurdistan Region’s heads of the Presidency, Government and Parliament support the continued presence of the international coalition, which is vital for Iraq’s security and to prevent the reemergence of ISIS.
On the recent rise in the price of bottled cooking gas (liquid petroleum gas, LPG), Mr. Hawrami said that Parliament’s Energy Committee visited Khor Mor gas field and spoke with relevant sides to scrutinize and understand the problem in detail.
The problem arose after the government contract for bottled LPG sale and distribution was awarded to a different company, with the previous company that sold the gas refusing and resisting the change.
Mr. Hawrami and Mr. Lentz also discussed the political situation and recent events in Iraq. Mr. Hawrami said that Kurdistan’s authorities in statements have condemned the violence against the protesters in Iraq.