The following parties convened : Assyrian Democratic Movement, Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union, Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council, Abnaa Al Nahrain Party, Assyrian Patriotic Party, and the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party held a meeting on Friday, February 23, 2024, at the headquarters of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. The meeting was dedicated to discussing the Federal Court’s decision, which annulled the seats allocated to our people in the parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The following statement was issued from the meeting:
The essence of the Federal Court’s decision constitutes a constitutional violation, as the Iraqi Constitution guarantees the rights of national minorities to representation in the executive, judicial, and legislative authorities. This right was deprived by a politically biased decision, indicating a regression in democratic concepts and national partnership as enshrined in the constitution. The rights of national minorities are the barometer of democracy, justice, and equality.
This decision is deeply disheartening for the constituents of national components because the Federal Court stated that the quota seats are unconstitutional, which is incorrect since the rights of components are constitutionally guaranteed. Here, we affirm that the decision was not within the jurisdiction of the Federal Court, and it was incumbent upon them not to compound error with error but rather to address deficiencies in the law and prevent the seizure of quota seats by influential political powers.
Regarding the factors that led matters to the Federal Court to annul the quota seats, we hold responsible the main two parties in the region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, for exploiting and seizing these seats and dragging them into political conflicts between them. It was incumbent upon them to protect and preserve these seats by restricting voting within the quota components, as it is their special right. We have worked diligently in previous sessions of the Kurdistan Region Parliament to amend the electoral law to ensure the restriction of voting within the component and protect the quota from exploitation by ruling parties, but to no avail.
We still demand the protection of the quota and the restriction of voting within our people to have our representatives in parliament expressing the will of our Chaldean Syriac Assyrian people.