Committees' recent meetings - 3 February 2021
A summary of Kurdistan Parliament's committees' recent meetings and activities:
Finance and Economic Affairs Committee
2 February – The committee, led by the chair Ziyad Jabbar (PUK), met with the UK’s Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey and the Consul General in Erbil James Thornton. They discussed Kurdistan Region's budget and the Region's financial situation.
Discussions focused on the reasons for the financial crisis, the negotiations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi federal government on Kurdistan’s financial rights, and Kurdistan’s rightful share of the Iraqi budget for 2021.
2 February - The committee, led by the chair Ziyad Jabbar (PUK), held their usual meeting. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s preparations for sending Kurdistan Region's 2021 budget bill to Parliament were discussed.
The MPs thought that the budget bill should be according to the income of the Region. They asserted that it is important to have clarity in the bill, to distribute the budget fairly among the governorates of Kurdistan Region and to give priority to government and public employees’ sarlaries.
The committee thought that sending the budget bill to Parliament for the first time in seven years is an important step towards clarifying the revenue and expenditure for both Parliament and the public, and that it will put Parliament’s committees in a better position to scrutinize the government.
The requests and letters directed to the committee were answered in detail.
Relations and Kurdish Diaspora Committee
1 February – The committee, led by Dr. Rebwar Babaki (KDP), met with the KRG Education Minister Dr. Alan Hama Saeed.
The committee and Minister Hama Saeed discussed Kurdish schools in Europe that teach Kurdish language and literature to children in the Diaspora, including Kurdish schools in Norway.
They also talked about the opportunity to employ Kurdistanis who have been teaching and serving in education abroad for years, and opening schools for Kurdistani children whose families have returned from abroad and having one or two foreign-language schools in each governorate.
At the meeting it was decided that a school will be opened for returnees’ children.
Health, Environment and Consumer Rights Committee
2 February – Members of the committee, led by chair Dr. Sabah Zebari (KDP), visited the Kurdistan Regional Government's Environmental Protection and Improvement Board and met with the new head, Mr. Abdulrahman Sadiq.
Dr. Zebari congratulated Mr. Sadiq on his appointment. Their discussions on the environment in the Kurdistan Region in general focused on many problems and shortcomings, including the problem of medical waste and the lack of green spaces in the region's major cities which does not meet international standards.
The MPs directed several suggestions and questions to the head of the board, who said that despite their efforts there are still problems, particularly that some environmental laws and provisions contradict each other. Mr. Sadiq called for work to be done to amend these laws.
Reconstruction and Investment Committee
2 February – The committee, led by the chair Hawre Mala Star (PUK), met with Mr. Dana Abdulkarim, the Kurdistan Regional Government Minister of Reconstruction and Housing and his staff.
The meeting focused on road and housing problems, with Minister Dana Abdulkarim explaining the steps taken by the ministry in these areas.
Detailed discussions were held on how to speed up the process of resolving the housing units and roads issues.
The committee and Minister Abdulkarim held a press conference after the meeting.
3 February - The committee, led by the chair Hawre Mala Star (PUK), met with Dr. Muhammad Shukri, the Head of the Investment Board, Ahmed Rekani, the Head of the Investors’ Union, and Shirin Hussein, the General Director for Specialist Banks at the KRG Ministry of Finance and Economy.
Chair Mala Star opened the meeting by saying, "We will discuss government and company debts, and the increased debts of individuals who have bought residential units.
For some time the committee have been looking into the problems of government and company debts and reasons for citizens’ higher residential mortgage debts.
The authorities discussed the problems in detail and stressed finding solutions.
The committee and interlocutors held a press conference after the meeting.
Legislative Committee
3 February - The committee, led by chair Dr. Bizhar Kochar (KDP), met to review the report by Parliament’s Municipalities Committee on the Bill on Protection of Water Sources and Grey Water in the Kurdistan Region.
The MPs reviewed and discussed each article of the bill in detail so that it can be prepared and directed to Parliament’s Presidency at a later date for reading at a sitting.
Culture, Civil Society, Sports and Youth Committee
3 February - The committee, led by the chair Salma Fatih (PUK), welcomed Sardar Haidar, the Head of the Kurdistan Central Basketball Union and the staff of the union.
The union gave a formal request to the committee asking that basketball be given the same importance as football and other sports. They asked for a dedicated budget so that they can start their activities, and said that a comprehensive law is needed for developing sport in Kurdistan.
The head and members of the committee said that sport is one of the most important fields that needs more attention and organization, and therefore they have prepared draft legislation on it.
The committee supported all the demands of the union and promised to work on their request.
2 February – The committee, led by the chair Salma Fatih (PUK), met with Avin Muhammad and Bangin Muhammad, the co-leaders of the Western Kurdistan Journalists Union, to discuss the press in Western Kurdistan (Rojava in Syria).
The union representatives outlined the state of journalism in Syria and Western Kurdistan in general and said that since 2011 35 journalists have been killed. Their union has 300 members and would like to coordinate with the journalists syndicate in Kurdistan Region and have support from the Parliament committee.
The committee members welcomed cooperation with the union and said that journalism has played a very important role in Western Kurdistan, where professional media have carried out their work of reporting news and information despite political pressure. The death of so many journalists shows the extremely dire and hazardous environment that journalists have to work in, they said.
1 February – Members of the committee, led by the vice-chair Jalal Pareshan, met with the Kurdistan Olympic Committee and were welcomed by the chair Dr. Dyar Muhammad and vice-chair Muayad Maghdid and several members of the committee.
The meeting discussed how to fill the legal and legislative gaps in sport in general and how to work together on drafting a new bill on the Kurdistan Olympic Committee.
The MPs asked the Olympic Committee to review the 2007 Olympic Committee Bill that was submitted in Parliament’s second term, so that the bill can be scheduled for its first reading at a Parliament sitting in the coming session.
The Olympic Committee thanked the MPs for their efforts and decided to study and review the 2007 bill as soon as possible and present their ideas on it to Parliament, while also using ideas from the Federal Iraqi Law on the Iraqi Olympic Committee to enrich the bill.
Agriculture and Irrigation Committee
3 February - The committee, led by the chair Abdulsatar Majeed (KIG), held their weekly meeting.
Conserving Kurdistan Region's water was discussed, and comments and suggestions were made on how to protect water resources in the public interest.
The MPs also discussed the Bill on Regulation of Fresh Produce Markets in the Kurdistan Region, with the suggestion that the relevant authorities will be given the power to determine market prices in all provinces of the region. After discussing the bill with Parliament’s Municipalities Committee, it will be directed to Parliament’s Presidency.
Energy, Natural Resources, Commerce and Industry Committee
2 February – The committee, led by the chair Ali Hama Salih (Change), discussed the gas sector in Kurdistan Region.
The MPs focused on how to avoid repeating past mistakes to fully benefit from this resource.
The committee believe that the KRG should devise a new strategic investment plan for gas and fields that have not been developed, should learn from the mistakes of the Dana Gas case and prioritize investment by domestic companies.
Martyrs’ Affairs, Genocide and Political Prisoners Committee
31 January – The committee, led by the chair Sawsan Muhammad Mirkhan (KDP), met online.
The MPs discussed their visits to the directorates of martyrs and Anfal affairs in the governorates of the Kurdistan Region, where they raised the problems with the reform process to the government’s reform committees. They discussed how to ensure that martyrs’ families are given their full rights.
The MPs also talked about implementation of the Reform Law in terms of removing unjustified claims and claimants from the lists of martyrs, and former detainees and political prisoners.
The committee decided to send a detailed report to Parliament’s presidency on those governorate-level meetings as well as a special report on the problems facing martyrs' families calling on the Kurdistan Regional Government to quickly solve them.