DUBAI, UAE - The long-delayed Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections will help restore legitimacy to its political institutions, said Yonadam Kanna, Secretary of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, on Wednesday. However, Kanna expressed concern over recent judicial decisions that he believes have harmed Christian representation.

Speaking to The New Region, Kanna emphasized that the elections, which have been delayed four times since 2022, are a necessary step forward. He voiced hopes for a peaceful and democratic election process but cautioned against expecting significant political shifts, given ongoing disputes between the Region’s two ruling parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

“The upcoming elections will restore legitimacy to the parliament, allowing it to convene and legislate,” Kanna said. “Despite this, we remain in a difficult phase due to regional conflicts, and Kurdistan must remain united, prioritizing the common good over party divisions.”

Court ruling hurts Christian representation

Kanna also criticized the Iraqi top court ruling that annulled several quota seats in the Kurdistan Parliament, including five seats reserved for the Christian community. The decision, he said, was the result of an incomplete presentation of the 1992 Election Law to the court.

“The court was not shown the full 1992 law or the supplementary decision that allocated five seats to Christians. The court’s ruling to cancel these seats, along with six others, was a grave mistake that greatly harmed the Christian community,” Kanna said.

“Whatever the intentions, we ended up being the victims, and this has severely impacted our ability to represent ourselves.”

Kanna also objected to the current distribution of Christian quota seats across the Region’s constituencies, calling it unfair. He pointed out that Sulaimani, with only 150 Christian families, received one seat, while Duhok, home to 20,000 Christian families, received the same allocation.

Criticism of Babylon Movement

Kanna also addressed the participation of the Babylon Movement, led by Rayan al-Kildani, in the Kurdistan elections. He characterized the group, the political wing of a paramilitary faction, as closely aligned with Iraq’s Coordination Framework, the ruling Shiite bloc.

“While no one can be barred from running in a democratic system, Babylon’s agenda is not representative of the Christian community. They entered parliament with votes from outside our community, which imposes the will of a larger group on us,” Kanna said.

He called for reforms to Kurdistan’s electoral laws to ensure that Christian voters are only allowed to cast ballots for Christian candidates. “This would be a necessary positive bias, as our numbers are too small to win seats otherwise, and the current system is not democratically prepared to protect our interests,” Kanna said.

The Kurdistan Region is set to hold parliamentary on Sunday, the first since 2018. The polls will be administered by the federal electoral commission after disagreements between the political parties resulted in a failure to reactivate the Kurdish commission.

The vote will be the first time the Kurdistan Region is divided into four different constituencies, with the number of seats lowered from 111 to 100, including 11 quota seats which have now been reduced to five.