Mashhadani, De Mistura discuss minority representation in elections

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani met on Monday with the UN Secretary General’s envoy in Iraq Staffan De Mistura to discuss article 50 of the law on elections regarding the representation of minorities in local councils. “The meeting also dealt with displacement of Iraqi Christians in Mosul as Mashhadani stressed that the displacement of Christians has toed a red line and was a non-ethical, non-nationalistic and even non-Iraqi act,” according to a statement published by the Iraqi chief parliamentarian’s web site as received by IraqiNews.com. The Iraqi parliament had on September 24 passed the law on provincial council elections but cancellation of article 50, which provided for set quotas for minorities in local councils, has caused a commotion and drew criticism of the law by minorities’ socio-political organizations. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, 405 km north of Baghdad, has witnessed an escalated wave of violence since late September against Christians, prompting the displacement of more than 2,000 families to the peripheries of the province as well as other provinces. AmR (P) 1