The Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc revealed the truth about the outstanding differences over the controversial Article 14 in the draft federal budget law.

The Head of the bloc, MP Vian Sabri, stated, in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA), this evening, Saturday, that "Minister Fouad Hussein is currently meeting with the Speaker of Parliament and his second deputy to discuss the dispute over the origin of Article 14."

She explained, "There was an agreement before we entered the session on Friday, by voting on the proposed text for this article, which includes seven paragraphs, especially the seventh paragraph, which was formulated in a manner acceptable and satisfactory to both parties, that any disputes or obstacles between the federal government and the regional government, there will be a joint committee of the two parties to submit recommendations to the head of the federal government to take the appropriate decision.

She added, "During the session, we found that the proposed text in the seventh paragraph specifically, was read in a completely different text from the previous text that we had seen and agreed upon, so we refused to veto that agreement, then we proceeded with the discussion inside the session to see what things lead to, but we will definitely not accept a new formula that deducts entitlements of the region.

She continued saying, "We are currently negotiating to reach a satisfactory and acceptable agreement for all political blocs, including the Kurdish forces, with which we are trying to pass the general budget in this evening's session." She noted that "the Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc met with its deputies, then another joint meeting of the Kurdish political forces followed."

Source: National Iraqi News Agency