Kurdish Transportation Minister calls on 137 countries to support Regional components

Shafaq News / The Minister of Transportation and Communications in the Kurdistan Region Ano Jawhar stated on Thursday that "we have called on all our friends in the United States and Europe to support the constitutional components of the Region."

Minister Jawhar considered the complaint of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) against the quota seats for components in the Kurdistan Electoral Law as "a historical mistake," adding, "the actions of the PUK and the decision of the Federal Court resemble the Revolutionary Court during the Baath regime era."

He continued, "We condemn the decision of the Federal Court as a threat to the constitutional entity of the Kurdistan Region," adding, "We visited the United Nations two months ago, where we participated in the international conference on the right to freedom of religion and expression, and discussed the situation of Kurdistan’s Christians and components."

He pointed out that "we have called on all our friends in the United States and Europe, through representatives of 137 countries who attended the conference, to support the components and entity of the Kurdistan Region."

Notably, the Supreme Federal Court decided last February to cancel the quota seats in the legislative elections law for the Region, and to reduce the number of seats in the Kurdistan Parliament from 111 to only 100, which sparked widespread discontent among minorities, leading to a declaration of their boycott of the upcoming elections scheduled for next June.

Turkmen parties in Kurdistan announced, on Tuesday, the boycott of the parliamentary elections in the Region, scheduled to be held on June 10, in protest against the Federal Court's decision to cancel the "quota" seats.

Representative of the Turkmen parties Kerkhi Alti Barmak said that "the cancellation of the quota seats is unconstitutional and contravenes Article 49, which guarantees the rights of components," adding that "the court's decision will weaken the principles of democracy in the Region."

The representatives of the Turkmen parties called on the United Nations, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, and the Parliament to intervene to cancel this decision.

He also called on the Regional President and Prime Minister to intervene to cancel the decision, confirming that "the Turkmen parties have decided to boycott the parliamentary elections until the quota system for components is reinstated."