Masoud Barzani: Canceling the quota seats for the minorities impacts the partnership and coexistence

Shafaq News/ The Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani stated on Monday, that the Federal Supreme Court's decision to scrap the quota seats for the minorities in the Kurdistan Region’s Parliament elections harms the partnership and coexistence.

During his meeting with the Australian ambassador to Iraq, Glenn Miles, at Salah al-Din resort.

They discussed the upcoming Kurdistan Parliament elections on June 10th of this year, and the difficulty of conducting the elections without the participation of all minorities.

Barzani said in a statement, "Eliminating the quota seats for the minorities harms the partnership and coexistence that we have always maintained, as coexistence is one of the foundations of the political process in Kurdistan, and that the components are part of our Kurdish people and they cannot get representation because of the intense competition."

About the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq, Barzani said that "it is a national issue and it concerns all components, who must be alert to the risks of terrorism's return."

The Australian ambassador Glenn Miles, commended the bilateral relations between Australia and the Kurdistan Region, and called for further strengthening the ties between the two sides.

Noteworthy, the Federal Court made decisions on February 21, 2024, about the law of the Kurdistan Parliament elections, which included abolishing the quota seats and replacing the Kurdish Electoral Commission with the Independent High Electoral Commission.