Iraqi lawmaker proposes mini-budget to fund contract employee hiring

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi lawmaker Mustafa Abdulhadi has proposed a mini-budget valued at between 20 and 30 trillion dinars to address priority issues, including the permanent hiring of contract employees, he said in a statement to the official gazette. Abdulhadi said all technical and administrative work on the file has been completed, and that the decision to approve the budget or postpone it to 2027 rests with the government. He noted that the Ministry of Finance sent an official letter to the relevant committee indicating its approval to include the hiring of contract and daily-wage workers in the draft 2026 General Budget Law. The lawmaker added that the ministry continues to prepare the budget draft and that there is no decision to halt or cancel the work. Education Committee member and lawmaker Amir Nasrullah said progress has been made on the contract employee file, including obtaining approval from the former parliament speaker, the former prime minister and the Finance Committee, and that a special committee has been established to follow up on the rights of contract workers and recent graduates.