Kurdish Minister calls for veto power, increased quota seats in new parliament session

Shafaq News/ Aydin Maruf Selim, the Minister of State for Minority Affairs in the Kurdistan Region, announced that various ethnic and religious groups are demanding veto power in the upcoming session of the Kurdistan Parliament and amending the election law to increase the number of quota seats.

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting with civil society organizations representing these groups, Maruf said, "During the meeting, all activists from the components agreed to hold the sixth session elections of the Kurdistan Parliament on schedule, with the participation of all political parties and components."

He added that several proposals were discussed, including the need to amend the election law for the new parliament session. The proposals include increasing the quota seats to 15, with 11 seats allocated to ethnic groups and 4 to religious groups. "This change aims to ensure representation for communities such as the Yazidis and Shabak in the Kurdistan Parliament."

Notably, numerous religious and ethnic minorities live in Iraqi Kurdistan, mainly Turkmen, Assyrians, Yazidi, and Christians.