Syriac Assyrian Shlimon Shamoun appointed deputy head of Dohuk Governate Council

NOHADRA, DOHUK, Iraq – Shlimon Shamoun of the Assyrian Democratic Movement Dohuk branch has been elected deputy head of the Dohuk Governate Council, the provincial administrative body of Dohuk Governate in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq (KRI) which is led by newly-appointed Governor Ali Tatar. Mr. Shamoun will be deputy to the head of the Dohuk Governate Council Fahim Abdullah.

The Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) is the largest Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian political party in the Dohuk Governate Council. Shamoun was chosen by majority of votes from three ADM candidates. According to Ankawa.com he received the confidence of the Council with 25 votes. The other two Syriac Assyrian candidates were Ashur Sakhriya, member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement Political Bureau (17 votes) and William Tidor, staff member of the ADM Dohuk branch (19 votes).

The Dohuk Governate is a stronghold of the Turkey-backed Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which is the largest KRI political party led since its establishment by the Barzani family, one of the two ruling families of the KRI – the other being the Iran-backed Talabani family. Because the Dohuk Governate is ruled by the KDP, the appointment of a Syriac Assyrian candidate, especially for higher positions and even when it falls within the space of the “Christian quota”, is in principle only possible with the consent and approval of the KDP-leadership.