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Iraq and the Season of Absolute Powers: No Oversight or Budget... A "Political Emergency" Paralyzes the State
Hopes for the passage of the 2025 budget in Iraq are gradually fading, amid a political landscape marked by legislative stagnation, a nearly paralyzed parliament, and a government seemingly more preoccupied with managing political balances than fulfilling constitutional and financial obligations.
In this context, Member of Parliament Jawad Al-Yasari affirmed on Friday (May 23, 2025) that next year's budget schedules "have become a thing of the past," indicating the impossibility of passing it at the present time.
Absent parliament... no prospect of holding sessions
In a statement to Baghdad Today, the leftist said, "The Iraqi government has no real seriousness in sending the 2025 budget schedules, and even if it did send them—which is unlikely—it would be impossible to pass them in light of a paralyzed parliament, with no sessions, no quorum, and no deputies."
He pointed out that holding parliamentary sessions "has become extremely difficult, due to the preoccupation of blocs, parties, and even MPs themselves with election campaigns and ongoing preparations for the general elections. This means that the new budget schedules will not be discussed or approved, and the Ministry of Finance will continue to work with the remaining 2023 and 2024 budget schedules."
A government in a political impasse
These statements highlight a deeper dilemma facing the Iraqi government, which had pledged at the beginning of this year to submit the budget schedules before the end of the first quarter, according to statements made by Cabinet spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi. However, the passage of months without submitting the schedules reflects either a delay in the government's ability to formulate them within the timeframe, or political considerations preventing their passage amid a tense and unstable parliament.
Finance between reality and maneuver
According to sources from the Ministry of Finance, government spending will not cease in the absence of 2025 budgets, as the provisions of Article (13) of Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 allow reliance on previous years' budgets to cover basic current expenditures, most notably salaries, social support, and temporary employment. However, the absence of a budget effectively freezes investment spending, halts new projects, and disrupts the work of ministries and governorates.
The political impasse... when the state is frozen by an unannounced decision
The absence of financial tables is not merely a procedural flaw; it reflects a complex, deeply rooted political crisis. The paralysis of parliament due to electoral polarization and the lack of coordination between the government and the House of Representatives reveal that Iraq's constitutional institutions operate not according to the state's rhythm, but rather according to the rhythm of alliances. This makes major decisions, such as the budget, a direct victim of any political confusion.
In this context, observers believe that the elections have transformed into something resembling a "political state of emergency," in which the state is temporarily frozen, legislation and oversight are halted, projects are suspended, and decisions are postponed. In the absence of an effective parliament, the executive branch is left without institutional balance, opening the door wide open to the expansion of powers in the hands of the executive branch.
Indeed, some warn that repeating this model reinforces the logic of a temporary state—a state run by momentary orders, instructions, and assessments, rather than annual budgets and plans.
The economy is in a state of anticipation... neither recession nor growth
Economically, the absence of a 2025 budget schedule pushes Iraq into a gray zone: not a state of collapse, but also not one of stable growth. Salaries are being paid, and current expenditures are proceeding, but there is no clear economic horizon, no approved spending priorities, and no transparent investment map. This leaves the private sector in a state of "waiting freeze," unable to make expansionary decisions amid the ambiguity of public policies.
Stalled projects are likely to accumulate, domestic and foreign debts lack legislative cover for settlement, and promised development plans are stuck in the drawers of ministerial committees. In the governorates, project implementation is contingent on central allocations that never materialize, and some are managed through primitive "transfers" that reproduce local financial chaos.
Economists agree that the continuation of this pattern deprives the budget of its most important political and economic functions: setting priorities, controlling the deficit, stimulating growth, and distributing wealth fairly.
Management crisis or system crisis?
The absence of budget schedules for next year cannot be reduced to the scene of an absent parliament. Rather, it reflects a structural flaw in the relationship between the authorities, where planning and development priorities are being undermined by political rivalries and electoral gains. While the government continues to spend according to outdated schedules, infrastructure projects, administrative reform, and social service programs remain suspended on the ropes of lost time. link
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