By Baghdadhope
"The [UN] proposal does not include the governorates of Kirkuk and those that make up Kurdistan - Erbil, Dohuk and Suleimaniya - then we hope in a proposal ensuring the representation of minorities wherever they live."
This is the answer given by Mr. Abdallah Al Naufali, head of Iraqi governmental office for the affairs of non-Muslims, to the question made to him by Baghdadhope about the proposal made by the United Nations to representatives of the different political blocs in the Iraqi parliament for the reinstatement of art. 50 previously deleted.
The article 50 assigns to minorities their representation in the provincial councils to be elected within January 31 2009 but its latest version submitted yesterday by Staffan De Mistura, the UN special representative in Iraq, not only decreases the number of seats for minorities, but it also changes the percentage assigning to Christians only 7 seats instead of the 13 planned in the earlier version.
In the text received by Baghdadhope Mr.Abdallah Al Naufali explains his critical position recalling how "the right of minorities to be represented wherever they live come from their being the original people of the country." "In any case," continued the chief of Awqaf "the proposal is better than nothing, but we hope that the majority political forces represented in Parliament will take into account and ensure, as it is ratified in the constitution, the rights of the minorities who can, with their skills and potentialities, contribute to the birth of a democratic Iraq."
