ERBIL () - The Kurdistan Regional Government's Council of Ministers on Wednesday, rejected a decision by Iraq's Supreme Council for Population Affairs that set the Kurdistan Region's population ratio at 12.68 percent, insisting instead on the official figure of 14.14 percent and stressing that the Region's financial share and public-sector salaries must be secured fairly and free of political disputes in the 2027 draft budget.
The Council of Ministers convened under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, with Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani in attendance, to discuss several matters related to domestic affairs and relations between Erbil and Baghdad.
In the first item on the agenda, the ministers of education, higher education, and scientific research presented reports on administrative, educational, scientific, and technical preparations for the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
The minister of education also presented a separate report on preparations for the Kurdistan Region's participation in the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, which measures the quality of education systems against global benchmarks in science, mathematics, and reading.
The Council of Ministers emphasized the importance of participating in the international program to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the education sector and to raise the quality of education. The cabinet decided that the new school year would begin on its designated date and issued the necessary directives to secure the needs of schools and universities.
In the second item, the minister of planning presented a report on the recent decisions of Iraq's Supreme Council for Population Affairs, which set the Kurdistan Region's population ratio at 12.68 percent.
The Council of Ministers completely rejected Baghdad's decision, stressing that according to the official and approved results of the 2024 general population census, the Region's population ratio stands at 14.14 percent. The council noted that this process was carried out through understanding and agreement between the Region's and the federal ministries of planning, and was approved by the Federal Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers instructed the ministries of planning, justice, and the Council of Ministers' Diwan and Secretariat to pursue all constitutional, legal, and judicial measures to correct the ratio and ensure adherence to the accurate figure of 14.14 percent, noting that the ratio is not limited to budget and revenue matters but also directly affects the level of Kurdish participation and representation in federal institutions, parliament, sovereign posts, and Iraqi embassies abroad.
In the final item, the high-level negotiating delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government presented the results of its recent talks in Baghdad with the Iraqi ministries of finance, planning, and oil regarding preparations for drafting the 2027 federal budget.
The delegation outlined its efforts to secure the Region's financial entitlements, including the salary file, oil and non-oil revenues, sovereign and governance expenditures, and international loans. In response, the secretary of the Council of Ministers referred to restrictions included in previous years' budget laws, such as the use of the "actual spending"criterion and significant increases in sovereign expenditures, which he said had reduced and disrupted the Region's financial rights.
The Council of Ministers stressed that the salaries of Kurdistan Region public-sector employees must not be tied to any oil or financial disputes, and should instead be paid on time in the same manner as Iraqi federal employees, based on the principle of equality and the February 2024 ruling of the Federal Supreme Court.
The council also decided that talks with Baghdad would continue so that the 2027 draft budget is prepared on a constitutional basis and with fairness. The Council of Ministers called on all Kurdistani factions in the Iraqi parliament to stand united, without exception, in defending the Kurdistan Region's financial share and entitlements.
At the close of the meeting, the Council of Ministers paid tribute to the martyrs of the Soriya village massacre in the Zakho independent administration, honoring the memory of the victims of the 1969 tragedy carried out by the former Iraqi regime against Christian (Chaldean) and Muslim residents of the village.
