It's unfortunate to take away reserved seats, says former UK special envoy for Iraq

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – William Patey, Former British Ambassador to Iraq, on Tuesday told Kurdistan24 that “it's unfortunate to take away those reserved seats.”

“In a country like Iraq where there are many different interests – Sunnis, Kurds, Turkmen, Christians, and Shia - there's a balance that people from minorities are recognized,” Greenstock added.

The UK special envoy also said that when he was in Iraq, he was working on the constitution with the Iraqi Parliament.

“It was important that those minorities were given reserved seats because there was a danger that their voices would not be heard,” he stressed.

As per Article 36 of the Kurdistan Parliamentary Election Law, five seats were reserved for Chaldeans, and Assyrians, one for Armenians and five for Turkmens, but the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq annulled the 11 seats on Feb. 21.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on March 3, set June 10 for parliamentary elections.

Every four years, Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections are held to elect the 111 members. The election was first held in 1992 and the most recent election was held in 2018.

Dawid Salman, the Director of the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission, previously told Kurdistan24 that there are 3.6 million eligible voters in the Kurdistan Region.