Iraqi CP considers Provincial Elections Law unfair to minorities

Iraqi Communist Party considers Provincial Elections Law
unfair to minorities

Mufid al-Jazairy, Member of Parliament, said that the Iraqi Communist Party did not support the proposal of some political blocs to allocate only 6 seats for minorities in the provincial councils, during the parliament session last Monday, 3-11-2008.

Jazairy, who is a member of Iraqi CP's Political Bureau, said in a statement given to the party central organ "Tareeq Al-Shaab" (People's Path), that "the party considered the proposal to be unfair to small national and religious components of the Iraqi society."

He explained that the party had called on the parliament to adopt the proposal put forward by the United Nations, describing it as being balanced. He said that the UN proposal "ensures fair representation for the national and religious minorities in the provincial councils of Baghdad, Mosul and Basra."

Jazairy added that "the supporters of the adopted proposal refused to give the representatives of minorities 12 seats out of about 450 seats, as they considered that to be too many, and instead cut the number by half."

The head of the UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Staffan de Mistura, had made a proposal that there should be 12 seats allocated to representatives of minorities in provincial councils.

Jazairy expressed his regret that proposal put forward by Iraqi CP leader Hamid Majeed Mousa (also a member of parliament) was not adopted during consultations between the political blocs. He said: "In an attempt to address the problem, comrade Mousa proposed that the 12 seats, allocated to representatives of minorities, be considered additional seats, excluded from the number already allocated to each provincial council."

Jazairy explained that the Iraqi CP's rejection of the proposal approved by the Parliament stems from its consistent position, in support of the minorities and their cultural and administrative rights. "It is a position that has always been adhered to by the Party, throughout 75 years of its history," he said.

Source: "Tareeq Al-Shaab" (People's Path), central organ of the Iraqi Communist Party, 5-11-2008.