Iraqi President sues PM

Baghdad: The Iraqi president has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani over the non-payment of salaries to civil servants in the autonomous Kurdistan region.

President Abdul Latif Rashid filed a lawsuit against al-Sudani and Finance Minister Taif Sami last month, but the federal adviser, Hawari Tawfiq, announced it only recently.

The lawsuit, filed in an Iraqi court, seeks an order to ensure the payment of salaries to Kurds despite ongoing financial disputes between Baghdad and the regional capital, Erbil.

Federal adviser, Hawari Tawfiq, said the lawsuit against the prime minister was announced in response to protests over non-payment of salaries in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan’s second-largest city and the president’s hometown.

Iraq’s public sector is riddled with incompetence and corruption, while analysts say there have been long-standing differences between the prime minister and the president.

Although Iraq's public sector employees have received their January salaries, they are still waiting for their December salaries.