Peshawa Hawramani, spokesman of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday, January 23, called on the Iraqi parliament and Iraqi federal government to respect the previous decision of the federal Council of Ministers regarding the amendment of the budget law to restart oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.

“After extensive meetings and efforts to amend the federal budget law in the Council of Representatives to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan Region, and despite the first and second readings, unfortunately a vote failed to take place at the final moment yesterday,” Hawramani said.

“We were surprised to learn that a proposal by the representative of the federal government in the Council of Representatives was submitted unilaterally, without the input of the KRG or approval by the federal Council of Ministers. This proposal contradicts the previous decision of the federal Council of Ministers regarding the amendment of the budget law to restart oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.”

“The proposal that we agreed to must be put to the vote,” he added.

Bloomberg reported that KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani was also “surprised” by changes to an approved plan for oil production costs and the Iraqi parliament not voting on it this week, adding that the KRG expected the Iraqi parliament to vote on the draft that was agreed upon by the Iraqi government, the KRG, and international oil companies (IOCs).

In a meeting chaired by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in November, the Council of Ministers approved a proposal to amend the Iraqi budget law, which could pave the way for the resumption of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports, which was welcomed by the KRG and IOCs. However, the amendment has to be approved by the Iraqi parliament first.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani told Reuters that the Kurdistan Region should be included in a recent deal between Iraq and British oil major bp, since according to the Iraqi constitution, disputed territories are not a region that can where unilateral decisions can be made by either Erbil or Baghdad.

Read More: Oil Deals in Disputed Territories Violate Article 140: KRG

The KRG in a statement on January13 also stated that deals by Iraq and foreign oil companies in disputed territories violate Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution.

Article 140 requires Baghdad to organize a referendum in Kirkuk and in other disputed territories to decide if they fall under the administration of the Kurdistan Region or Baghdad. The federal government was originally obliged to do so by December 31, 2007.