[Armenian News note: The below is translated from Sorani Kurdish]
Minority Christians in Iraqi Kurdistan staged a demonstration outside the Kurdistan parliament demanding a fairer representation through the minorities' quota system, which they say is being "monopolised" by the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Members of the Assyrian community and partisan officials also protested attempts to reduce the quota seats in parliament, privately-owned NRT website reported on 30 July.
The protests follow reports that both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Change Movement (Gorran) had prepared proposals to reduce the number of seats dedicated for minorities in the 111-seat house from the current 11 to between five to eight.
Currently five of these quota seats are allotted to the Christian Chaldean, Assyrian and Syriac communities, five to Turkomans and one to Armenians.
Both PUK and Gorran have claimed that the KDP had controlled those seats by fielding its own affiliated minority candidates and making sure they receive enough votes through its own supporters.
The protesters repeated the claim, but also criticised the PUK and Gorran for attempting to reduce the number of the minorities' seats.
Galeta Shaba, the president of Abnaa al-Nahrain (an Assyrian political party which currently holds one seat in the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament), said current MPs do not represent them.
"We have five seats under the quota system, but for years they have been usurped, stolen from us especially by the ruling party – and I say it openly here," she said.
An Assyrian MP interviewed by NRT explained that one of their demands is for the current election law in Kurdistan be amended to allow elections of minority constituents to be held on a separate day, rather than on the main election day with the rest, so that non-minorities cannot vote for minority candidates.
Shaba said the current parliament presidency held by the KDP has repeatedly avoided the inclusion of the Christian proposal to amend the law in the house's agenda.
The Kurdistan Region parliamentary election is scheduled for 30 September.
Shaba said there is still time to amend the law if there is a will.