Interview: Christian Party Calls for Boycott of Iraqi Kurdistan Election After Quota System Cancelled
(AWP) - The leader of a Christian party in Iraq’s Kurdistan region says that his party will boycott the forthcoming parliamentary election after the seat quota system was cancelled.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court handed down a verdict on February 21 abolishing the quota system in the Iraqi Kurdistan’s parliament, on the grounds that it is “unconstitutional,” and reducing the number of seats from 111 to 100.
“As representatives of ethnic components within the Iraqi Kurdistan region, we cannot participate in this election after the quota system, by virtue of which we had seats in the region’s parliament, has been abolished by the federal constitutional court’s decision of February 21,”said Romeo Hakkari, leader of the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party, in an interview with the Arab World Press (AWP).
"The seats were cancelled, and so we have no right to participate in the voting,” added the Assyrian party leader.
“The judiciary, in accordance with the Iraqi constitution, is independent, and has to be so. However, people in Kurdistan believe that some rulings handed down by Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court were politicized. In our statement, we indicated that this decision is illegal and unconstitutional, as it violates Iraq’s permanent constitution,” he noted.
Hakkari urged the court and the Iraqi judiciary to “reconsider this decision. Iraq is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation. Peaceful fraternal coexistence among all ethnicities, sects and religions in Iraq has marked the country since its establishment in 1921,” he said.
Hakkari pointed out that five parties have joined the BNDP in rejecting the Federal Supreme Court and boycotting the Iraqi Kurdistan parliamentary election, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of the largest parties in the region.