Federal Court's ruling on the minorities representation shall enter into force in the next election, MP says

Shafaq News/ Lawmakers representing the Fayli Kurds and Shabak quotas on Wednesday said that the Supreme Federal Court's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the minorities' representation in the Iraqi parliament will enter into force in the next term.

In a joint press conference held earlier today, Fayli Kurdish MP Hussein Mardan and Shabak MP Waad al-Qaddu said that the court's decision "serves justice to these communities", urging the parliament to amend the election law in accordance with this "compelling ruling."

"The Court's ruling is effective. It will enter into force in the next term since the number of the seats will be changed by amending the election law."

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a ruling declaring the parliamentary representation of Yazidi, Shabak, and Fayli Kurd ethno-religious groups as "unconstitutional.

The court ruled the system of representation of the Yazidis, Shabaks, and Feyli Kurds' representation "should be equalized with the Christian and Mandaean components."

In previous iterations of Iraq's parliamentary elections, the aforementioned minorities were only permitted to vote for representatives within provinces they hold a sizeable population in. The Yazidi and Shabak communities were each reserved one seat in the province of Nineveh, while Feyli Kurds held a seat in the southern Iraqi province of Wasit.