President advisor reiterates religious minority rejection of provincial polls law

ARBIL/IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s president advisor on Sunday said his religious minority community rejected the current version of provincial elections law, calling for making their representation according to population census. “The current version of the provincial elections law is unfair for Yazidis,” Eidou Baba Sheikh, Yazidi affairs advisor for President Jalal Talabani told IraqiNews.com. He noted that his minority seats “must be made according to their population census,” adding “a protest memorandum was filed against the law”. The Iraqi parliament endorsed last two week a law on the provincial councils election, in which an item that guaranteed seats for Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities seats in the local councils by virtue of the quota system was abrogated. The measure, however, drew outcry from the political and social organizations representing Christians and other minorities despite assurances by the parliament speaker and the UN Secretary-General’s representative after the law was passed. AM(S) 1