The incumbent prime minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq [KRI], Masrour Barzani, is visiting the UK to highlight the challenges and barriers to reform in Kurdistan and wider Iraq, the status of Erbil’s ongoing negotiations with Baghdad, and to present his vision for a new system of confederation in the Middle Eastern country.
Despite six months having passed since the national elections took place, Iraq has been unable to form a government and discussions have reached a stalemate. In an already volatile region, tensions have been simmering between the Kurdish capital of Erbil and the Baghdad regime, stemming primarily from a ruling made by the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq on oil exports from the region.
The February ruling by the Supreme Court in Iraq deemed that a law regulating Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil and gas industry was unconstitutional. The court subsequently ordered the Kurdish authorities to hand its vast crude oil supplies over to Baghdad.
The Kurdish Regional Government [KRG], which has been developing oil and gas resources independently of the federal government and has enacted its own law on the administration of its region’s resources since 2007, opposes the ruling.
Barzani [pictured, left] discussed the matter and various other related issued in the UK on Wednesday, during a visit to London-based independent policy institute and forum, Chatham House.
During his opening address at Chatham House, Barzani spoke out against the ruling, labelling it a “blatantly political move” and suggesting that Baghdad’s decision-making process was not “truly independent”.
The Kurdistan Region’s PM told those in attendance, which included the UK’s consul general to the region, David Hunt: “Earlier this year, a so-called Federal Court in Baghdad delivered a ruling that challenged our right to develop our oil and gas industry. This ruling was blatantly political.
“It stemmed from positions we have taken on forming a federal government. We know well the regional issues at play here and who is behind them, and what this says about Iraq’s capacity to manage its own internal affairs speaks for itself. The decision-making process in Baghdad is not truly independent.
“And that sad fact has remained a constant, despite nearly two decades of attempts at capacity building and building institutions. The federal legislature, as constituted, simply cannot provide fairly and equitably for all those people considered to be Iraqis.”
The court’s decision also comes as a major impediment to the Kurdistan Region’s trading ambitions. Indeed, the day before his appearance at Chatham House, Barzani met with UK prime minister, Boris Johnson in Downing Street. After being welcomed by the UK PM, Barzani engaged his counterpart in discussions during which the duo reiterated the strength of the relationship between the UK and the Kurdish Region, while highlighting significant opportunities for greater partnerships across trade and investment.
While Johnson took the time to voice the UK’s enduring commitment to stability within Iraq and the Middle East, Barzani talked up the Kurdistan Region’s aspirations to export energy to Europe as one means of fortifying trade and investment ties. The Kurdish leader’s resolve to help reduce the West’s reliance on Russian oil and gas in the wake of the war in Ukraine was a particular point which drew praise from Johnson.
Speaking during his address at Chatham House, Barzani talked up the prospect of making fundamental changes to the Iraqi constitution and moving toward confederation, explaining that decentralising the nation’s decision-making processes could make the country work for all people and all communities and open the doors to trade with the wider world.
He said: “The future structure has to be a structure that all of us [in Iraq] agree on. That is why we are inviting all the Iraqis from the different communities to come around the table.
“One of the structures I have in my mind is confederation, which offers more guarantees to different communities. One of the reasons we have so many problems is because we [the different communities] don’t trust each other. There is no provision for any of the communities to feel that their future is secure. We need a system which doesn’t allow the mistreatment of its communities.
“We need to build trust and trust doesn’t come based on words and promises. A system must be in place to guarantee that trust we all need.”
Elaborating on his idea for a confederative system, Barzani explained that it had the potential to be “nation-building” for the people of Iraq.
“I would like to assure all in this room that advocating that the model I am canvassing here does not mean stripping all power from Baghdad,” he said. “And nor does it mean breaking down national borders. Rather, I believe that credibly decentralising decision-making deserves serious thought. My belief is that aiding self-determination in the manner that I envisage could truly be nation building.
“We must be brave enough to discuss what sort of a nation would work as a model for the peoples of Iraq. Thriving communities living under their own banners, and those of a state that they can truly believe in would be a big leap from where we are now, beholden to forces intent on dividing us to their own ends and stuck in an endless loop of inertia.
“Institutions that were supposed to serve people have instead become fiefdoms that hinder progress and devalue notions of true citizenship. Iraq, as currently governed, is unable to fairly provide for its people and barely able to fend for itself. The model I envisage does not mean division, it is a subtle devolution of power that sponsors trust and sustained coexistence. There are models of confederation elsewhere in the world that have created thriving, self-contained communities who are also proud to unite behind a single banner.”
Laween Al-Atroshi [pictured, right], CEO of Atrumed, attended the Chatham House session. A proud British Integrated Care Service that has become a driving force behind the best performing A&E service in England, the company has long advocated for closer socio-economic ties between the UK and Iraqi Kurdistan to bolster mutual prosperity.
During a Q&A session with the Kurdish leader held after his opening address, Al-Atroshi quizzed Barzani about what his bargaining chip and contingency plan would be in order to implement an effective system of confederation in Iraq.
In response, Barzani explained that peace and stability in the region and emphasising the success that the Kurdish government has enjoyed in developing its land would form the primary bargaining chips in any drive toward establishing a system of confederation in Iraq.
Barzani said: “The bargaining chip is bringing stability and introducing peace. What we are saying is that many systems have been tried in Iraq which have failed for over a hundred years. I think it is time to acknowledge that it would be insanity to try the same thing and expect a different result.
“We are saying: ‘Let’s still work together as different communities, build trust and bring peace’. Our strongest bargaining chip is the result that we have achieved in Kurdistan. After we built Kurdistan with five per cent of Iraq’s resources and all the problems we had to face, we believe that with 95 per cent of Iraq’s wealth, it can do much better.
“The problem is not the wealth, natural resources or human resources. The problem is management, the system. What we are introducing is a system that can work and turn Iraq into a different place where all of Iraq’s people can benefit.”
