Zowaa.org – Erbil
Several parties representing our Chaldean Syriac Assyrian people held a meeting at the headquarters of our Assyrian Democratic Movement in Ankawa, Erbil, today, Thursday, August 25th, 2022, attended by our comrades Jacob Gewargis, Deputy General Secretary of A.D.M, Udair Rabin and Nabil Melhem, members of the leadership of A.D.M along with the leaders of the Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union, the Assyrian National Party, Abnaa Al-Nahrain Party and the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian People’s Council also participated in the meeting. The following declaration was issued by all members of this meeting.
Declaration
The political scene in the Kurdistan Region has recently witnessed a political movement and meetings attended by the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Ms. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, in which the Kurdish parties participated in discussing the parliamentary elections in the region and their laws. These meetings were repeated without sending an invitation to participate to the parties of the Chaldean Syriac-Assyrian people, who are considered the second indigenous nationalistic and religious component in the region that has rightful claims historically and in current date.
This step is considered marginalization of the component, exclusion of its political representatives and a violation of its will, and it is in violation of international standards in democracy, political partnership and human rights by the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is supposed to be the sponsor of democracy in Iraq, since in these meetings the topics for discussion, dialogue and agreement on them are not of factional specificity. Rather, it concerns all the nationalistic components of the region, and it is a general interest that concerns everyone, especially the quota seats.
It is not acceptable for the issue of quota seats to be one of the points of contention between the Kurdish parties, to be discussed and approved without taking into account our opinion, as we are concerned with the issue. Either involve the parties of our people in meetings with the Kurdish parties under the auspices of the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, or meet with them separately.
Therefore, from these premises, we call on the partners in the homeland to adhere to the concepts of fraternity and political and nationalistic partnership, and not to marginalize any component of the region in participating in political decision-making on public affairs, and we also call on the United Nations Mission for Iraq not to condone or contribute to practices that lead to Marginalization and exclusion of nationalistic components in participating in decision-making and expressing opinions on political positions that concern everyone.
As for the parliamentary elections in the region, we affirm our position that they should be held on time, because of this consolidation of democracy and appeal to the opinion of the people in choosing their representatives in the legislative authority.
We also call for amending the electoral law on the basis of justice and true partnership, so that it expresses to the greatest extent the will of the people and preserves it without the tutelage and interference of influential political forces and my agencies.
- Restricting voting to the Chaldean Syriac-Assyrian component.
- Creating a register of voters for the component.
- Holding quota elections before the general elections.
- Preparing a special ballot paper, electoral centers and stations in the electoral centers for quota voting.
- Demanding an increase in the number of quota seats in line with the natural increase of the population at home and abroad.
Thus, we ensure that the electoral process achieves its goal of expressing the true will of the people without interference or tutelage from the influential political forces that steal the will of the component and impose on it representatives who do not express it, thus emptying the democratic process of its content.
Signed by:
Assyrian Democratic Movement
Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union
The Assyrian National Party
Abnaa Al-Nahrain Party
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian People’s Council