Shafaq News / The leader of the liberated provinces alliance (Al-Muhafathat al-Muharara in Arabic) , Khamis Al-Khanjar expressed his refusal on Saturday to cutting the salaries of employees and workers in the public sector of Kurdistan Region.

Al-Khanjar said in a statement published today on social media that "using   salaries as a political pressure card on Kurdistan Region is rejected and cannot be continued."

 "The people of Kurdistan is our people, we share with them what we have, and we live with them brothers in one homeland."

"Pushing them to difficult choices each time is not in the interest of one Iraq,” he added.

The delegation of the region had arrived on Tuesday evening to Baghdad and held on Wednesday and Thursday, two rounds of discussions with the Iraqi government, as well as consultations with leaders and officials of Iraqi political parties on resolving the outstanding differences between Baghdad and Erbil.

The visit came days after the Iraqi government cut the salaries of employees of Kurdistan Region after it said that the region had not fulfilled its obligations in the financial budget represented by the delivery of 250 thousand barrels of oil per day to the federal government.

In its statement today, the regional government said that it confirms its commitment to the items of the financial budget for 2019 and the agreement concluded with Baghdad in early January 2019.

The agreement includes the delivery of Kurdistan Region for 250 thousand barrels per day of oil to the Federal Government in return for handing Baghdad a share of about 13 % of the budget to the region in addition to the salaries of employees and Peshmerga.

The cut of employee’s salaries of the region sparked widespread criticism inside and outside the region, as observers considered that this decision comes in the context of political pressures, coinciding with the efforts of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to form the new government.

There are pending issues between the two sides for many years, top of them is the disputed areas, how to manage oil wealth, the budget of Peshmerga forces, and others.