Al-Tayeb: Exxon Mobil has legally binding contracts and, according to the Iraqi constitution, it also has the right to work in Iraqi Kurdistan because that says that Iraq’s oil wealth should be distributed among all Iraqis.
We don’t have a problem with sharing oil revenues. However the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Hussein al-Shahrastani, wants to be in charge of everything.
As Kurds, we believe that this kind of attitude and this kind of centralism belongs in the past. We’re now living in a federal nation and we have a relatively stable state in Iraqi Kurdistan, unlike some of the other Iraqi states. That’s why companies like Exxon Mobil prefer to work up here, especially with a potential 44 billion barrels of oil under this region.
NIQASH: How will you feel if Nouri al-Maliki runs for a third term as Iraq’s Prime Minister?
Al-Tayeb: We would respect the result of any election. And there is no Constitutional reason why al-Maliki shouldn’t run for a third term. Having said that, the Sadrist bloc has actually submitted a draft law to Parliament that would prevent leaders from running for a third term but that law has not been approved by Parliament yet.
Comments are closed.