Annulment of quota seats a "political and social genocide", say Rep. of Ethnic, Religious Communities

The representatives described the decisions of Federal Supreme Court if Iraq as "against democracy, human rights principles and peaceful coexistence of communities.”
An image from the gathering of the representatives of ethnic and religious communities. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)
An image from the gathering of the representatives of ethnic and religious communities. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Representatives of Kurdistan Regional ethnic and religious components have called on the Iraqi President to cancel the decisions of the Federal Court on the annulment of the quota seats in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) parliament.

The representatives described the decisions of Federal Supreme Court if Iraq as "against democracy, human rights principles and peaceful coexistence of communities.”

On Monday, representatives of the communities of the Kurdistan Region gathered to express their opposition to the latest decisions of the Federal Supreme Court to annul the quota seats in the Kurdistan Region’s Parliament.

In a letter which is written in Kurdish, Turkmen, Syriac, Arabic and several other languages, the representatives addressed the Iraqi president, the president of the Federal Court, the Kurdistan Regional Government authorities and the international community.

The ethnic and religious communities of the Kurdistan Region called on the relevant parties not to “remain silent against this oppression, this injustice and this unconstitutional decision to abolish the quota seats that has been gained through the sacrifice of our people and the sacred uprising.”

Representatives of these communities said that according to the constitution, the current Iraqi president Latif Rasheed has the authority to oppose the decision of the Federal Court and prevent its implementation.

"This oppression and injustice will not be accepted anymore," they said.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has called on all Kurdish political parties to work to stop the decisions of the Federal Supreme Court, because as they said, "the elimination of the quota seats in the Kurdistan Parliament is not in the interest of any political party.”

The letter reads that, "The ethnic and religious communities have always protected the Kurdistan Region and its constitutional structure. All communities have worked together to further develop the Kurdistan Region, while emphasizing the integrity of the Iraqi territory, but unfortunately the communities have been insulted by the PUK. It is unfortunate for those political parties who are happy to abolish the quota seats.”

The letter stressed that the Federal Court's decision to abolish the quota seats in the Kurdistan Parliament is a "political and social genocide" against the ethnic and religious communities of Kurdistan and called on the relevant parties not to accept this "oppression and injustice.

Federal Court Ruling on the Quota Seats

According to the ruling of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court, issued on Wednesday, Feb. 21, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Committee will take over the task of conducting and supervising the sixth round of Kurdistan parliamentary elections; The Kurdistan Region will be divided into four constituencies and the number of seats in the Kurdistan Parliament will be reduced from 111 to 100.

Read More: Kurdistan Region parliament seats reduced to 100 by the Iraqi federal Supreme Court

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced the date of parliamentary elections

On Sunday, March 3, the Kurdistan Region’s President Nechirvan Barzani in a decree scheduled June 10 as the date of parliamentary election in the Kurdistan Region.

Read More: Kurdistan Region President sets June 10th for parliamentary elections