LONDON: In an exclusive interview with Arab News, UK Conservative politician Nadhim Zahawi has hit back at criticism about his salary as part-time strategy officer at oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum.
Zahawi, whose heritage is Kurdish, took flak from City of London investor Justin Urquhart Stewart, cofounder of Seven Investment Management, who complained about his monthly salary of £29,643 ($39,314), disclosed in the latest British parliamentary register of MPs’ interests.
Urquhart Stewart told The National newspaper that most shareholders were “absolutely furious” about Zahawi’s pay level — equivalent to £356,000 a year — given the 99 percent collapse in the share price in five years.
But Zahawi said: “The share price was diluted following last year’s debt-for-equity swap with bondholders — but the financial reconstruction was absolutely necessary to secure the company’s future.”
His pay was signed off by Gulf Keystone’s remuneration committee and was “commensurate” with salaries paid to CEO Jon Ferrier and Chief Financial Officer Sami Zouari, he added. What many people had forgotten, said Zahawi, was that following the deal with debt-holders a year ago, the company had turned its fortunes around with debt reducing from $625 million to $100 million. There is now over $140 million of cash on the balance sheet.
Zahawi said: “I joined (the company) only after the majority of the old management had departed; most of the loss of value in the equity was under the previous management team. When I came aboard, Keystone was very close to going under because of the sheer weight of the debt.”
There was a need to credit the current team with turning round the business, he added. “Albeit the share price is where it is, but the debt was an existential threat.”
Gulf Keystone Petroleum is the operator of Kurdistan’s Shaikan field, with current production capacity of 40,000 barrels per day.
Kurdistan explorers and producers have been under the cosh after the slump in the oil price in 2014. Soft prices coincided with geopolitical difficulties in the region which delayed payments for exports due from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
But Zahawi said relations with the KRG are much improved and regular payments were coming through. He hoped the current standoff between the Kurds and Baghdad would be “resolved decently. They are both committed to resolving (the dispute) within the framework of the Iraqi constitution.”
Political tensions between Baghdad and the KRG were raised recently when Iraqi federal forces regained disputed territories including the city of Kirkuk, the oil fields around it and much of the wider region.
Current political instability was weighing on Keystone’s and other companies’ share prices, said London-based analysts.
Zahawi’s appointment to the company more than two years ago was influenced by his contacts in Kurdistan and expertise as a chemical engineer and oil industry specialist, according to a company announcement.
Keystone said at the time of his appointment in June 2015: “Zahawi is of Kurdish origin, and moved from Iraq to the UK in his childhood. He has maintained contact with the KRG throughout his extensive career.”
CEO Ferrier wrote: “With his Kurdish heritage and as a successful businessman, Nadhim brings a range of additional and critical skills to the company. I firmly believe that the breadth and depth of his regional knowledge will prove invaluable, and will help further strengthen our relationships within the Regional Government amongst other key stakeholders in the Kurdistan Region and internationally.”
British-Kurdish MP Nadhim Zahawi hits back in oil company pay row
British-Kurdish MP Nadhim Zahawi hits back in oil company pay row
Proposals on immigration enforcement flood into state legislatures, heightened by Minnesota action
- Oregon Democrats plan to introduce a bill to allow residents to sue federal officers for violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure
NASHVILLE, Tennessee: As Democrats across the country propose state law changes to restrict federal immigration officers after the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis, Tennessee Republicans introduced a package of bills Thursday backed by the White House that would enlist the full force of the state to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Momentum in Democratic-led states for the measures, some of them proposed for years, is growing as legislatures return to work following the killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. But Republicans are pushing back, blaming protesters for impeding the enforcement of immigration laws.
Democratic bills seek to limit ICE
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul wants New York to allow people to sue federal officers alleging violations of their constitutional rights. Another measure aims to keep immigration officers lacking judicial warrants out of schools, hospitals and houses of worship.
Oregon Democrats plan to introduce a bill to allow residents to sue federal officers for violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.
New Jersey’s Democrat-led Legislature passed three bills Monday that immigrant rights groups have long pushed for, including a measure prohibiting state law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has until his last day in office Tuesday to sign or veto them.
California lawmakers are proposing to ban local and state law enforcement from taking second jobs with the Department of Homeland Security and make it a violation of state law when ICE officers make “indiscriminate” arrests around court appearances. Other measures are pending.
“Where you have government actions with no accountability, that is not true democracy,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco said at a news conference.
Democrats also push bills in red states
Democrats in Georgia introduced four Senate bills designed to limit immigration enforcement — a package unlikely to become law because Georgia’s conservative upper chamber is led by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a close Trump ally. Democrats said it is still important to take a stand.
“Donald Trump has unleashed brutal aggression on our families and our communities across our country,” said state Sen. Sheikh Rahman, an immigrant from Bangladesh whose district in suburban Atlanta’s Gwinnett County is home to many immigrants.
Democrats in New Hampshire have proposed numerous measures seeking to limit federal immigration enforcement, but the state’s Republican majorities passed a new law taking effect this month that bans “sanctuary cities.”
Tennessee GOP works with White House on a response
The bills Tennessee Republicans are introducing appear to require government agencies to check the legal status of all residents before they can obtain public benefits; secure licenses for teaching, nursing and other professions; and get driver’s licenses or register their cars.
They also would include verifying K-12 students’ legal status, which appears to conflict with a US Supreme Court precedent. And they propose criminalizing illegal entry as a misdemeanor, a measure similar to several other states’ requirements, some of which are blocked in court.
“We’re going to do what we can to make sure that if you’re here illegally, we will have the data, we’ll have the transparency, and we’re not spending taxpayer dollars on you unless you’re in jail,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said at a news conference Thursday.
Trump administration sues to stop laws
The Trump administration has opposed any effort to blunt ICE, including suing local governments whose “sanctuary” policies limit police interactions with federal officers.
States have broad power to regulate within their borders unless the US Constitution bars it, but many of these laws raise novel issues that courts will have to sort out, said Harrison Stark, senior counsel with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
“There’s not a super clear, concrete legal answer to a lot of these questions,” he said. “It’s almost guaranteed there will be federal litigation over a lot of these policies.”
That is already happening.
California in September was the first to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration officers, from covering their faces on duty. The Justice Department said its officers won’t comply and sued California, arguing that the laws threaten the safety of officers who are facing “unprecedented” harassment, doxing and violence.
The Justice Department also sued Illinois last month, challenging a law that bars federal civil arrests near courthouses, protects medical records and regulates how universities and day care centers manage information about immigration status. The Justice Department claims the law is unconstitutional and threatens federal officers’ safety.
Targeted states push back
Minnesota and Illinois, joined by their largest cities, sued the Trump administration this week. Minneapolis and Minnesota accuse the Republican administration of violating free speech rights by punishing a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants. Illinois and Chicago claim “Operation Midway Blitz” made residents afraid to leave their homes.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety and called the Illinois lawsuit “baseless.”
