Former Syriac Member of Iraqi Parliament Joseph Sliwa criticizes absence of national and ethnic diversity in Iraq

ANKAWA, Iraq — Former Syriac Member of Iraqi Parliament and Deputy Head of the Beth Nahrin Patriotic Union (Huyodo Bethnahrin Athroyo, HBA) Joseph Sliwa strongly criticized the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of Iraq for not paying attention to the ethnic and racial diversity in Iraq and perpetuating the inequality that exists between the components of Iraq.

In a recent interview with Al-Sharqiya TV, Sliwa said that diversity and multiplicity of components is what distinguishes Iraq, but previous governments — from hundreds of years ago to today — have not paid attention to that diversity and did not invest in it in the required manner. The mentality of the previous Baath regime still exists in the current governments in Baghdad and Erbil, he said, accusing the two authorities of creating fictitious demographic figures.

Sliwa criticized the authorities for not recognizing the Chaldean– Syriac–Assyrian people in the same way it recognizes Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen. He added that what is being promoted about diversity, equality, peaceful coexistence, and democracy by officials in the two authorities is merely performative and serves to cover up deep inequality and unequal application of the law.

Sliwa also touched on the election law and the quota system and the agreements reached during lengthy discussions between Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian political parties and other political parties in the country.