By Baghdadhope
As foreseen the proposal to amend Article 50 which regulates the representation of minorities within the provincial councils to be elected in Iraq within next January has begun to raise protests.
SIR interviewed the Chaldean Vicar Patriarch Msgr. Shleimun Warduni about the UN proposal:
IRAQ: WARDUNI (BAGHDAD), “THE UN PROPOSAL FOR ART.50 IS JUST A SOP”
“A sop”. This is how the patriarchal vicar of Baghdad, mgr. Shlemon Warduni, speaking with SIR, censures the proposal submitted by Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Iraq, to reinstate art. 50 into the electoral law of the provincial councils, giving representative powers to the minorities. De Mistura’s plan, however, is slightly different from the original article. As explained by the website Baghdadhope, “the provinces which should allocate seats to minorities are no longer 6, but 3. The provinces of Dohuk, Erbil and Kirkuk are missing, while Baghdad, Ninive and Bassora are still there. The seats of the minorities that used to be 15 are now 12. The Christians who used to be allocated 12 seats out of 15 now have just 7, the Yazidis who used to have just 1 seat in Ninive will now have 3; the situation will not change for the Shabaks, 1 seat in Ninive, while the Mandeian minority makes its appearance just now with 1 seat in Baghdad”.
“A sop”. This is how the patriarchal vicar of Baghdad, mgr. Shlemon Warduni, speaking with SIR, censures the proposal submitted by Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Iraq, to reinstate art. 50 into the electoral law of the provincial councils, giving representative powers to the minorities. De Mistura’s plan, however, is slightly different from the original article. As explained by the website Baghdadhope, “the provinces which should allocate seats to minorities are no longer 6, but 3. The provinces of Dohuk, Erbil and Kirkuk are missing, while Baghdad, Ninive and Bassora are still there. The seats of the minorities that used to be 15 are now 12. The Christians who used to be allocated 12 seats out of 15 now have just 7, the Yazidis who used to have just 1 seat in Ninive will now have 3; the situation will not change for the Shabaks, 1 seat in Ninive, while the Mandeian minority makes its appearance just now with 1 seat in Baghdad”.
“Why, instead of defending our rights, is De Mistura making this proposal to take them away from us?”, the prelate cries out. “Do the UN, the international community, Europe maybe feel they are omnipotent to give us just a sop when these are our own rights? We want the law as it used to be, we want to be respected as Iraqi citizens. We are asking the Government to reinstate article 50. Is there a right in the world or is justice just over?”.
