Kurdistan Region Rejects Federal Census Figures and Demands Full Budget Share

The Kurdistan Region on Wednesday rejected the population ratio recently determined by the Federal Government, emphasizing that its true share in the general budget should be set at 14.14% based on approved census results. The Region also called upon all Kurdish blocs in the Council of Representatives to jointly defend its financial and constitutional rights in the budget. This stance emerged from the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers' regular weekly meeting, held on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, chaired by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and attended by his deputy, Qubad Talabani. At the meeting's outset, Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Education, presented detailed reports on their ministries' preparations for the new academic year 2026-2027. The reports highlighted educational, scientific, administrative, and technical readiness, ensuring essential requirements for a successful learning process. The Education Minister also briefed on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the ministry's preparations to participate in this global evaluation. PISA aims to assess student skills and educational system efficiency in reading, mathematics, and science, comparing results with international standards. The Council underscored the importance of this participation for identifying system strengths and weaknesses to guide reform policies and enhance education quality. Following these discussions, the Council of Ministers affirmed the necessity of starting the new academic year on schedule and in an organized manner. It issued necessary recommendations to address any problems or deficiencies, and to ensure the provision of essential needs for all educational institutions, including schools, universities, and institutes. The meeting then transitioned to its second agenda item, where the Minister of Planning presented a report on official federal decisions regarding the 2024 general population and housing census. The report specifically noted the decision by Iraq's Supreme Council for Population, which set the Kurdistan Region's population share at 12.68%. The Kurdistan Region's Council of Ministers expressed its categorical rejection of this percentage. It affirmed that official and approved census results clearly demonstrated the Region's population share to be 14.14%. The Council reminded that the census process in the Region was conducted based on joint understandings and agreements between the KRG Ministry of Planning and the Federal Ministry of Planning, utilizing mechanisms approved by the Federal Council of Ministers. Consequently, the Council tasked the KRG Ministries of Planning, Justice, and the Cabinet Diwan and Secretariat with joint coordination. Their mandate is to undertake all necessary constitutional, legal, and judicial measures to rectify this percentage, obliging concerned parties to adhere to the official approved results of 2024. The Council of Ministers emphasized that determining the true and official population ratio of the Kurdistan Region is a fundamental issue. Its impact extends beyond defining the Region's financial and constitutional entitlements in federal general budgets and the distribution of public revenues and expenditures. It also directly affects the Kurdistan Region's participation and representation in elected federal councils and bodies, presidencies, constitutional and federal institutions, and federal diplomatic representation abroad. In the final agenda item, members of the KRG's high-level negotiating delegation reviewed outcomes from their recent meetings and discussions in Baghdad. These involved engagements with relevant federal ministries, particularly Finance, Planning, and Oil, as part of preparations for drafting the 2027 Federal General Budget Law. The delegation provided a detailed explanation of the discussions, emphasizing KRG efforts to secure the Region's financial and constitutional entitlements in the 2027 budget draft. Key focus areas included salaries and financial entitlements for recipients, determining the Region's share, sovereign and governing expenditures (and their calculation mechanism), international loans/aid, oil and non-oil revenues, and the Region's participation in federal expenditures, projects, and programs. In another aspect, the Cabinet Secretary addressed the restrictions, conditions, and obligations embedded in previous federal budget laws. He noted that their implementation had led to a reduction in, or complete withholding of, financial entitlements for salary recipients in the Kurdistan Region. Discussions also touched upon using the "actual spending" criterion when calculating the Region's share. The expansion in the items and volume of sovereign expenditures, and their increasing percentage of the state's total public expenditures, were highlighted as factors that negatively impacted the Kurdistan Region's budget share and financial entitlements over past years. Furthermore, it was noted that Kurdistan Region salary funding had been linked to the KRG's fulfillment of its financial and oil obligations. The Council affirmed that a salary is a financial and legal entitlement for recipients in the Region. Therefore, their financial rights and entitlements must be guaranteed equally and without discrimination, similar to their counterparts in federal government institutions, with timely disbursement. This position fully aligns with the Federal Supreme Court's February 2024 decision. That ruling emphasized safeguarding salary recipients' rights and ensuring their equality. It explicitly stated that federal-regional disputes regarding budget law implementation must not delay or obstruct the disbursement of salaries and entitlements for recipients in the Kurdistan Region. After discussing and evaluating the negotiation outcomes, the Council of Ministers emphasized the necessity of continuing dialogue with the Federal Government. This aims to ensure the drafting of the 2027 budget law project based on the Constitution, relevant federal laws, and the definitive and binding decisions of the Federal Supreme Court, thereby guaranteeing a clear and fair establishment of the Kurdistan Region's share and its financial and constitutional entitlements. It also stressed that the financial rights and entitlements of employees in the Region must be safeguarded during budget drafting and implementation, preventing financial, oil, and legal disputes between the two governments from being used as a pretext to delay or obstruct their salary disbursements. The Council of Ministers also affirmed the importance of the role of all Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, without exception. It urged them to undertake their role in defending and jointly advocating for the Kurdistan Region's share and its financial and constitutional entitlements in the 2027 federal budget, stressing the need to unify ranks and enhance coordination among all Kurdish parties regarding this file. Finally, at the conclusion of the meeting, commemorating the anniversary of the 1969 Soriyah village massacre within the borders of the independent Zakho administration, the Council of Ministers reverently remembered the souls of the victims. This tragedy, perpetrated by the former Iraqi regime, resulted in the mass extermination of a group of the village's residents, both Christians (Chaldeans) and Muslims.