By Doreen Abi Raad
Catholic News Service

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNS) — An Iraqi archbishop expressed optimism that the Iraqi parliament will vote to ensure Christians and other minorities are represented in provincial councils.

“Everybody is saying it should be an issue to guarantee the rights of the minorities. The nuncio in Baghdad (Archbishop Francis Chullikatt) played a very strong role, contacting several of those responsible. I think it will work,” said Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk, in an Oct. 7 e-mail to Catholic News Service.

“I think the (minorities) quota will be reinstated because the clergy and politicians have worked hard for that,” Archbishop Sako said Oct. 4 in an earlier e-mail to CNS.
On Sept. 24, the parliament removed Article 50, the minorities provision, from the old elections law when it created the new provincial elections law.

Following protests by Iraqi Christians, the Iraqi parliament agreed Oct. 3 to consider the minority provisions in a separate bill. The new elections law — without Article 50 — was approved by the Iraqi Presidency Council Oct. 7. Iraqi elections must be held by Jan. 31.

Archbishop Sako said the numerous visits he received following the Oct. 3 decision, “from Muslim clerics and political leaders, were to support our rights of having a quota and to be represented in the government as loyal and indigenous citizens. It is an example of solidarity.”

“We are hopeful for the future but we have to prepare for it,” Archbishop Sako added.

The parliament had cited a lack of census data on the current number of Christians and other religious minorities as a reason why it initially removed Article 50.
Archbishop Sako estimated that there are currently about 350,000-400,000 Christians in Iraq. Before the U.S. invasion there were about 700,000.

“Shiites’ and Sunnis’ parties are ruling Iraq except the (autonomous) Kurdistan region,” he said. “This (prior) decision of the abrogation of Article 50 is an example” of what happens under their rule.

In his Sept. 28 appeal to Iraqi and U.N. officials, Archbishop Sako had said, “The Christians are one of the historic components of (the) Iraqi people, and their contribution to establish its history and culture was pioneer.”

The U.N. charter on minority rights, “which has been signed by the Iraqi government, requires the respect of the rights of minorities,” he said.

“We ask those responsible for the new Iraq to include the religious and ethnic minorities and to let them participate in the authority and responsibility at the same level as their citizens, in order to prevent any Iraqi ... (from feeling) marginalized or persona non grata,” he said.

“Such a decision will push more Christians to leave the country and consequently Iraq will lose loyal, capable and skillful people, who can help a lot toward the construction of the country,” Archbishop Sako said.

However, there have been recent attacks on Christians and other religious minorities by Islamist extremists possibly because of the strong lobbying by Christian leaders on the Iraqi parliament for more representation.

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