Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian parties: “The election law in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has appropriated the will and freedom of our people”

ERBIL — Five Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian political parties in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) have lodged a demand to the political blocs in parliament to change the electoral law and the mechanism for electing the “quota” seats of the Chaldeans-Syriacs-Assyrians. In a statement they demand that voting be restricted to the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people only, with special voter cards (similar to the procedure in the 1992 KRI elections) and in designated polling stations. 

Only in this way can there be true and legitimate  representation  of the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people in parliament and municipal councils, the five parties state; “What happened in the past is nothing but a confiscation of the quota seats allocated to our Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people,” read the statement. It adds that the current election law has appropriated the will and freedom of the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people not only in the KRI, but also in the municipal and provincial councils and in the federal parliament. “Elections for quota seats have become nominal because they are controlled and stripped of meaning,” say the five parties.

Related: Head of Human Rights Commission in Kurdistan Region of Iraq Muna Yaqoo: Current quota system does not work for Chaldeans-Syriacs-Assyrians, leaves room for exploitation and manipulation

The statement called on the political blocs to reconsider their stances towards a true representation of the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people, a stance that should be based on fraternity and political and national partnership.

The political parties of the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people called on the international community, especially the United Nations institutions, to support their demands that meet the aspirations of Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people, who have been suffering for decades. “It is time to give the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people justice and their legitimate rights,” the statement concluded.