MPs pass the Law on Combating Smuggling of Oil and Oil Products in Kurdistan Region

Kurdistan Parliament MPs on 4 March voted to pass the Law on Combating Smuggling of Oil and Oil Products in Kurdistan Region.

 Speaker Dr. Rewas Faiq chaired the sitting.

Deputy Speaker Hemin Hawrami and Secretary Muna Kahveci also attended the sitting.

The law was passed by 88 votes. During the voting, the Legislative Committee and Energy and Natural Resources Committee read out all of the suggestions proposed for each article, and they each put to voting.

When the law was passed, Speaker Faiq said, "I hope that the enactment of this law will prevent the smuggling of oil and its products in Kurdistan.”

The new law imposes prison sentences on those who commit oil smuggling.

Some MPs raised the issue of border areas. Speaker Faiq said, “We all know that the situation on the borders needs to be reexamined and seriously discussed, as the border gates are one of the most important sources of Kurdistan's income”. 

She added that the Kurdistan Regional Government has pledged to coordinate properly and build consensus with Parliament over the border problems. 

She noted that Parliament’s Presidency does not take party sides and that the Government has begun taking steps and making several decisions regarding the border problems.

At the start of the sitting Speaker Faiq congratulated the people of Kurdistan on the 29th anniversary of the 1991 Kurdish Uprising against the Iraqi Ba'ath regime, and said she hopes that all the dreams of the uprising will be fulfilled.

MPs also voted on some MPs request to resign from their committees and join others. They approved MP Gulistan Niheli’s (KDP) request to resign from the Agriculture and Irrigation Committee, and joining the Social Affairs and Protection of Human Rights Committee; and Shirin Younis Abdullah (PUK) resigning from the Relations and Kurdish Diaspora Committee, and joining the Committee on Protection of Women's Rights. And MP Ziyad Jabbar Mohammed (PUK) joined the Committee on Relations and the Kurdish Diaspora was also voted on and approved by a majority vote of MPs.