Assyrian politics in Iraq

Assyrian politics in Iraq have been taking many different turns since the US invasion of the country in 2003. Today, there are many different Assyrian political parties in Iraq. The main Assyrian party that came out from the 2005 elections was the Assyrian Democratic Movement. However, Sarkis Aghajan began to challenge its power beginning in 2006 with the opening of Ishtar TV and the KDP-affiliated Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council.

1992 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election

On May 19, 1992, elections were held for the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA,) the parliament of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. At the time, the National Assembly had 105 seats. The parties representing the Assyrian community competed in a closed list guaranteeing that there would be five Assyrian seats in the KNA. There were four Assyrian lists in the elections:

• Assyrian Democratic Movement
• Kurdistan Christian Unity of Sarkis Aghajan
• Democratic Christians
• Chaldo-Ashur Communist Party

Results^[1]

	ADM	KCU	DC	KAD
Dohuk	5,555	1,841	181	241
Erbil	900	880	347	1,855
Sulemani	83	36	9	38
Darbandikhan (parts of Kirkuk)	4	-	-	-
Total	6,543 54%	2,757 23%	537 5%	2,134 18%

A minimum of 2,400 votes was required to win a seat. ADM won four seats and one was won by the Kurdistan Christian Unity. The names of those elected into the parliament:

• Yonadam Kanna (ADM)
• Shamil Benyamin (ADM)
• Francis Yousif Shaba † (ADM)
• Akram Ashur Odisho (ADM)
• Sarkis Aghajan (KCU)

Francis Youif was assassinated on June 1, 1993, in Dohuk.^[2]

Iraqi parliamentary election, January 2005

Iraqi parliamentary election, January 2005

A general election was held on 30 January 2005 to elect a temporary 275-member Council of Representatives of Iraq. It was the first time in the history of Iraq (outside of KRG-areas) that Assyrian political parties had been allowed to be part of the electoral system. In the elections, there were three different Assyrian lists;

• National Rafidain List (204) - Yonadam Kanna

Assyrian Democratic Movement

• Assyrian National Assembly (139)

Assyrian National Congress

Assyrian Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party of Sargon Dadesho

• Bet-Nahrain Democratic Coalition (148)

Beth Nahren Patriotic Union

Syriac Independent Gathering Movement

Chaldean National Congress was initially part of list 204, but ended up dropping off before the election. Chaldean Democratic Union Party (CDUP), Assyrian Patriotic Party (APP) and Bet Nahrain Democratic Party (BNDP) of Romeo Hakkari joined the Kurdistani list (130).

	Rafidain 204	ANA 139	Bet-Nahrain 148
Anbar	10	1	4
Arbil	958	106	217
Babil	104	72	101
Baghdad	7,430	1,210	1,472
Basra	120	153	179
Diyala	219	114	56
Dohuk	4,165	155	137
Karbala	44	57	75
Kirkuk	978	599	389
Missan	15	29	29
Muthanna	10	22	18
Najaf	56	59	63
Ninawa	3,346	97	302
Qadissiya	38	57	48
Salahadin	10	18	31
Sulaymani	99	39	174
Thiqar	68	101	92
Wasit	47	32	27
Out-of-country voting	18,538	4,198	727
Total	36,255	7,119	4,141

In all, six Assyrians were elected to the parliament. National Rafidain list got the minimum required votes for a seat in the parliament and it was given to Yonadam Kanna (ADM.) Other Assyrians that were elected into the parliament include Goriel Mineso Khamis (BNDP), Nuri Potrus 'Atto, Ablahad Afraim Sawa (CDUP) and Jacklin Qosin Zomaya (APP) all under the Kurdistani list (130.) Wijdan Michael was elected under Iyad Allawi's secular list.

Iraq Governorate elections, 2005

On the same day, Iraq held a local governorate elections in all 18 governorates. Assyrian political parties participitated in 4 of the 18 local governorate elections. The only Assyrian party that won a seat in any governorate was the Assyrian Democratic Movement in the Nineveh Governorate. The party received 4,650 votes and captured one seat (out of 41.)

	Rafidain 204	Bet-Nahrain 148	Minimum votes per seat
Arbil	2,001	-	15,120
Dohuk	4,919	-	8,918
Kirkuk	1,554	-	8,727
Nineveh	4,650	2,315	3,451

In addition, Salvana Boya of the Assyrian Patriotic Party was elected in the Kirkuk Governorate council under the Kurdistani list.^[3]

2005 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election

Elections for the Kurdistan National Assembly, the parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, were held on 30 January 2005, to coincide with the Iraqi legislative election and governoral council elections. All Assyrian-based parties joined the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan. The coalition won 104 of the 111 seats in the parliament, of which 5 were won by Assyrians:

(in order as they were in the coalition list)

• Jamal Shamon Yalya (CCS) - 69
• Romeo Hakkari (BNDP) - 71
• Bayzar Milko Rohan (CDUP) - 72
• Andreaus Youkhana Georgis (ADM) - 73
• Galawesh Shaba Hojji (ADM) - 76

Iraqi parliamentary election, 2005 (December)

A general election was held on 15 December 2005 to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives. The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of parties. In the elections, there were three main Assyrian list:

• National Rafidain List (740) - had only one party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement.
• Patriotic Beth Nahrain (Al-Nahrain National) (752)

Beth Nahren Patriotic Union

Chaldean National Congress

Assyrian Patriotic Party

Syriac Independent Gathering Movement

Chaldean Democratic Forum

Hikmat Hakim (Independent)

• Assyrian General Conference (800)

Other Assyrian parties decided to side with non-Assyrian based list. The Chaldean Democratic Union Party decided to run under the Kurdish list (730.) The Iraqi Christian Democratic Party of Minas al-Yousifi joined the list of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front (667.) Bet Nahrain Democratic Party of Romeo Hakkari withdrew.

In all, three Assyrians were voted into the parliament. ADM succeeded in capturing one parliament seat in the Baghdad governorate, which was given to the secretary of its party, Yonadam Kanna. Fawzi Hariri (KDP) and Ablahad Afraim Sawa (CDUP) under the Kurdistani list (730) for the Arbil governorate were voted in as well.

Iraqi Governorate elections 2009

A local governorate election was held on January 31, 2009, in Iraq. There were no elections in the heavily-Assyrian populated north governorate of Dohuk and Arbil (including Slemani and Kirkuk.) 440 seats in 14 (of the 18) Iraqi governorates were up for grabs.

In the last local governorate elections, only one seat (in Nineveh) was won by Assyrians (ADM.) Unlike the 2005 local elections, minority groups had reserved seats ahead of the election. Three seats were reserved for Assyrians; one each in the governorates of Nineveh, Baghdad and Basra.

In the election, there were three main Assyrian blocks fighting for votes. The Assyrian Democratic Movement being one, under the list titled National Rafidain List (504). The other being a Kurdistan Democratic Party-backed block titled the Ishtar Patriotic List (513).

The Ishtar Patriotic List included the following:

• Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council
• Bet Nahrain Democratic Party
• Chaldean Democratic Forum
• Chaldean Cultural Society
• Beth Nahren Patriotic Union
• Syriac Independent Gathering Movement

The third major list was the Chaldean Democratic Union Party (503).

The Nineveh seat was won by Saad Tanios Jaji of SIGM. The Baghdad seat was won by Gewargis Isho Sada of the BNDP. The Ishtar Patriotic List decided not to run in the Basra elections, however, it supported the Chaldean National Congress (CNC.) The Basra seat was won by Saad Matti Boutros of the CDUP.

2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election

Kurdistan Region held elections to elect its 111-member Kurdistan National Assembly on 25 July 2009. Five seats are reserved for Assyrians. There were 8 Assyrian parties that initially signed up to participate in the elections. Prior to the elections, BNDP decided to withdraw. APP and KACP decided to run on a joint list. CDUP and CNC merged in a joint list as well.

• Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council List (68)

Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council

• National Rafidain List (67)

Assyrian Democratic Movement

• Self government List (65)

Assyrian Patriotic Party

Chaldo-Ashur Communist Party

• Chaldean United List (64)

Chaldean Democratic Union Party

Chaldean Democratic Forum

Results											Total		Seats
	Dohuk	Zakho	Shaqlawa	Diana	Haodian	Ankawa	Erbil	Koysanjaq	Armota	Other	Votes	%	2005	2009
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council	2,426	1,990	463	167	14	1,179	19	15	18	4,304	10,595	53.9	-	3
Assyrian Democratic Movement	3,703	362	173	170	28	930	40	6	12	266	5,690	28.3	2	2
Chaldean Democratic Union Party Chaldean National Congress	281	30	32	55		365	1			936	1,700	8.6	1	-
Chaldo-Ashur Communist Party Assyrian Patriotic Party	244	78	10	23	-	883	3			439	1,680	8.5	-	-

The elected politicians:

• Thair Abdalahad Ogostin (CSAPC)
• Susan Yousif Khoshaba (CSAPC)
• Amir Goga Yousif (CSAPC)
• Salem Toma Kako (ADM)
• Jihan Ismael Benyamin (ADM)

Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010

A parliamentary election was held on 7 March 2010. The parliament previously approved to increase the number of seats from 275 to 325, of which 5 seats were reserved for Assyrians. The reserved seats for Assyrian in Iraqi parliament was the first in the country's history. Going into the elections, four Christians were in the parliament: Yonadam Kanna (ADM), Fawzi Hariri (KDP,) Ablahad Afraim Sawa (CDUP,) and Wijdan Michael (Allawi list.)

The Assyrian Patriotic Party, Chaldean Democratic Forum, and the Bet Nahrain Democratic Party announced on November 15, that they would create an alliance.

Five major lists have been created for the election;

• 389 - National Rafidain List: Assyrian Democratic Movement
• 390 - Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council list
• 391 - Chaldean National Congress
• 392 - Chaldean Democratic Union Party
• 393 - Independent Sarkis Yousif
• 394 - Ishtar Democratic List: Assyrian Patriotic Party. Beth Nahrain, Chaldean Democratic Forum
• 395 - Independent John (Yohanna) Joseph

Three seats were won by the ADM and two seats by the CSAPC. The five elected into the parliament:

• Yonadam Kanna
• Basimah Yusuf Butrus
• Imad Youkhana Yaqo
• Khales Isho Esitefo
• Luis Caro Bandar

Iraqi Governorate elections, 2013

A Governorate (or local) elections were held in Iraq on 20 April 2013, with Nineveh Governorate along with Anbar voting on June 20, due to violence in the city caused by the Islamic State of Iraq. Elections didn't take place in the 3 governorates forming the Kurdistan Region.

As with the previous local elections, 3 seats were reserved for Assyrians, including one each in Baghdad, Nineveh and Basra. The Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council reclaimed their seats in Nineveh and Baghdad, by receiving 8,635 and 1,513 votes respectively.^[7][8]

2013 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election

Kurdistan Region held elections to elect its 111-member Kurdistan National Assembly on 21 September 2013. Each Kurdish party listed 100 candidates while each Assyrian and Turkman party listed 5 candidates. There were 3 Assyrian lists running for the five reserved seats. Prior to the election, some ADM members decided to leave the party and run on their own list called Sons of Mesopotamia.

• 125 Sons of Mesopotamia List
  • List included former individuals from the Assyrian Democratic Movement
• 126 National Rafidain List
  • Assyrian Democratic Movement
• 127 Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List
  • Assyrian Patriotic Party
  • Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party
  • Chaldean National Council
  • Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council

Results

The elections resulted in the Popular Council losing one seat, while ADM retaining two seats and the new Mesopotamia List being given one seat.^[9] Yaqoub Gorgis and Lina Azriya Bahram of the ADM were elected along with Srood Maqdasy from the Mesopotamia List.^[9] Within the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List, the Popular Council managed retain its 2 seats.

			Seats
	Votes	%	2009	2013
Assyrian Democratic Movement	6,145	47.4	2	2
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List	5,730	44.2	3	2
Sons of Mesopotamia List	1,093	8.4	-	1
Total	12,968	100	5	5

Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List individual votes:

Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List
Name	Party	Votes
Wahida Yaqo Hirmiz	Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council	2,517
Kamal Yalda Markoz	Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council	1,466
Nina Louis	Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party	507
Sargon Salim	Assyrian Patriotic Party	400
Janan Jabbar	Chaldean National Council	273

Other Assyrians ran in Kurdish parties, but non were able to get enough votes to win a seat in the parliament.^[10][11] Many voters in Assyrian dominated Areas voted for these parties, including 3,377 votes for the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Ankawa alone.

Kurdistan Communist Party
Name	votes	Ranking in List (out of 100)
Insaf Munif Yaqub	374	4
Abdulmasih Sleman Yalda	205	13
Victoria Yalda Gorgis	64	47
Bouya Markos Behnam	59	49
Nithal Walid Louis	58	50
Dalia Farid Noori	40	57
Talia Khamis Matti	21	68
Luay Jameel Sanati	15	74
Total	836	-

Kurdistan Democratic Party
Name	votes	Ranking in List (out of 100)
Christof (Rebwar) Yalda	3,497	71
Sanna Yaqub	824	100
Total	4,321	-

Iraqi parliamentary elections 2014

Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 30 April 2014, electing the 328 members of the Council of Representatives, of which 5 were reserved for the Assyrian minority. 2 of the seats were won by the Assyrian Democratic Movement, 2 by the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council, and one by the Iraqi Communist Party who was under the Civil Democratic Alliance.

2014 Iraqi Parliament Assyrian winners
Name	Party	Votes	Governorate
Yonadam Kanna	Assyrian Democratic Movement	9,023	Baghdad
Sargon Lazar	Assyrian Democratic Movement	3,908	Kirkuk
Polis Shamoon Ishak	Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council	1,240	Erbil
Raed Ishak Matti	Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council	4,929	Nineveh
Azad Hirmiz Nissan	Iraqi Communist Party	416	Duhok

Azad was replaced Joseph Sylawa. ADM tried but failed to make Sargon Lazar a minister, after Sargon resigned his seat and gave it to Imad Youkhana Yaqo.

Iraqi parliamentary elections, 2018

Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 12 May 2018, electing 329 members of the Council of Representatives. A total of 7 different Assyrian lists competed for the 5 reserved seats. Babylon Movement, a mostly non-Assyrian militia linked to the Iranian-backed paramilitary group, entered the parliament for the first time after receiving more than 33,000 votes, leading to winning 2 seats. CSAPC, Rafidain list and the Chaldean Catholic-supported Chaldean list all received one seat. Many within the Assyrian community publicly condemned Babylon Movement and its leader Rayan al-Kildani for taking reserved seats for the Assyrian communities through votes coming mostly from southern Shia Arab individuals.^[12] The results to some even calling for the then US President Donald Trump to pressure Iraqi authorities to invalidate the results, however no actions were taken.

Iraqi governorate elections, 2023

The 2023 Iraqi governorate elections were held on December 18, 2023, after almost 10 years passing after the last one. The delay was mostly due to the 2014 ISIS invasion and occupation. Governorates under the KRG did not participate. For the Assyrians, reserved seats were allocated in the following governorates: Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Ninewa.^[13]

See also

• Assyrian independence movement
• Assyrians in Iraq
• Politics of Iraq

References

Sources