On Sunday, Omid Mohammed Saleh, a representative of the protesters in Sulaimaniyah, revealed new details regarding the demonstrations in Baghdad. Saleh stated that "a delegation representing educational staff is currently in Baghdad and inside the Federal Supreme Court, where they are discussing the issue of employee salaries." He added that "there has been a division regarding the protests in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, as some members of the ruling parties insisted on protesting in Baghdad, despite not obtaining the necessary security permit from the Joint Operations Command and the Ministry of Interior. Therefore, the security authorities did not allow them to pass and reach Baghdad."
Security checkpoints prevented educational staff from Sulaimaniyah from entering Baghdad to protest about delayed salaries. Reports indicated that "the checkpoint at the entrance of Kirkuk, affiliated with the federal government, prevented dozens of educational staff from Sulaimaniyah and other areas from passing to protest in Baghdad against the delay in salary payments."
On Saturday, the protesting teachers and employees in the Kurdistan Region called on community organizations to support their planned protests in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad on Sunday. The protesters issued a statement, reported by "Baghdad Today," inviting people to attend the protest organized by teachers and staff from the Kurdistan Region in Tahrir Square, demanding the federal government to pressure the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The statement further indicated that "the protesters demanded the payment of delayed salaries for 2023 owed to teachers and employees of the region, and the reinstatement of the employee promotion law, which has been halted for about seven years. They emphasized the necessity of permanently appointing lecturers." The protesters also stressed the need to have a suitable mechanism to recover the amounts deducted from teachers' and employees' salaries since 2014 under the so-called mandatory savings, which amounts to approximately 33 full salaries for each teacher and employee. They called for the implementation of the Iraqi National Council Law concerning retiree salaries and compensating the affected individuals.
Earlier on Saturday, an informed source revealed details about a visit by a delegation of protesters from Sulaimaniyah to Baghdad scheduled for Sunday. The source stated that "a delegation representing the coordinators of the demonstrations from educational staff and employees in Sulaimaniyah and Halabja will head to Baghdad." He emphasized that "the delegation will file a lawsuit with the Federal Court against the Kurdistan Regional Government and will demand direct linkage of employee salaries with the federal government."
He explained that "the delegation relies on a clause in the budget law that allows Baghdad to disburse the salaries of employees in Kurdistan if the regional government abandons that responsibility." He noted that "given the suffering of Kurdish citizens due to delayed salary payments, this step will be taken." For several months, Sulaimaniyah has been witnessing protests by employees and educational staff demanding the payment of their overdue salaries and direct linkage to the government in Baghdad, similar to other employees in Iraqi provinces.
