Assyrian politics in Iraq have been taking many different turns since the USinvasion of the country in 2003. Today, there are many different Assyrian political parties in Iraq. The main Assyrian party that came out from the 2005 elections was the Assyrian Democratic Movement. However, Sarkis Aghajan began to challenge its power beginning in 2006 with the opening of Ishtar TV and the KDP-affiliated Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council.
As of 2025, owing to continuous violence and political marginalization, Assyrians no longer have proper political representation in Iraq. Many of the seats that are reserved for the community have since been hijacked by the Babylon Movement under the leadership of Rayan al-Kildani.
On May 19, 1992, elections were held for the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA,) the parliament of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. At the time, the National Assembly had 105 seats. The parties representing the Assyrian community competed in a closed list guaranteeing that there would be five Assyrian seats in the KNA. There were four Assyrian lists in the elections:
A minimum of 2,400 votes was required to win a seat. ADM won four seats and one was won by the Kurdistan Christian Unity. The names of those elected into the parliament:
Francis Youif was assassinated on June 1, 1993, in Dohuk.[2] Experts regarded that several parties that participated in the election, namely Aghajan's KCU, were proxies for bigger Kurdish parties, with each party being controlled by a different organization.[3]
A general election was held on 30 January 2005 to elect a temporary 275-member Council of Representatives of Iraq. It was the first time in the history of Iraq (outside of KRG-areas) that Assyrian political parties had been allowed to be part of the electoral system. In the elections, there were three different Assyrian lists;
In all, six Assyrians were elected to the parliament. National Rafidain list got the minimum required votes for a seat in the parliament and it was given to Yonadam Kanna (ADM.) Other Assyrians that were elected into the parliament include Goriel Mineso Khamis (BNDP), Nuri Potrus 'Atto, Ablahad Afraim Sawa (CDUP) and Jacklin Qosin Zomaya (APP) all under the Kurdistani list (130.) Wijdan Michael was elected under Iyad Allawi's secular list.
On the same day, Iraq held a local governorate elections in all 18 governorates. Assyrian political parties participitated in 4 of the 18 local governorate elections. The only Assyrian party that won a seat in any governorate was the Assyrian Democratic Movement in the Nineveh Governorate. The party received 4,650 votes and captured one seat (out of 41.)
An Assyrian woman voting in Alqosh, in the Iraqi 2005 December elections.
A general election was held on 15 December 2005 to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives. The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of parties. In the elections, there were three main Assyrian list:
The Chaldean Democratic Forum, a party led by Saeed Shama that also advocated for a separate Chaldean identity, took part in elections for the first time. Other Assyrian parties decided to side with non-Assyrian based list. The Chaldean Democratic Union Party decided to run under the Kurdish list (730.) The Iraqi Christian Democratic Party of Minas al-Yousifi joined the list of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front (667.) Bet Nahrain Democratic Party of Romeo Hakkari withdrew.
In all, three Assyrians were voted into the parliament. ADM succeeded in capturing one parliament seat in the Baghdad governorate, which was given to the secretary of its party, Yonadam Kanna. Fawzi Hariri (KDP) and Ablahad Afraim Sawa (CDUP) under the Kurdistani list (730) for the Arbil governorate were voted in as well.
A local governorate election was held on January 31, 2009, in Iraq. There were no elections in the heavily-Assyrian populated north governorate of Dohuk and Arbil (including Slemani and Kirkuk.) 440 seats in 14 (of the 18) Iraqi governorates were up for grabs.
In the last local governorate elections, only one seat (in Nineveh) was won by Assyrians (ADM.) Unlike the 2005 local elections, minority groups had reserved seats ahead of the election. Three seats were reserved for Assyrians; one each in the governorates of Nineveh, Baghdad and Basra.
The Nineveh seat was won by Saad Tanios Jaji of SIGM. The Baghdad seat was won by Gewargis Isho Sada of the BNDP. The Ishtar Patriotic List decided not to run in the Basra elections, however, it supported the Chaldean National Congress (CNC.) The Basra seat was won by Saad Matti Boutros of the CDUP.
The Kurdistan Region held elections to elect its 111-member Kurdistan National Assembly on 25 July 2009. Five seats were reserved for Assyrians. There were 8 Assyrian parties that initially signed up to participate in the elections. Prior to the elections, the BNDP decided to withdraw. APP and KACP decided to run on a joint list. CDUP and CNC also merged in a joint list called the "United Chaldean List".[9]
Most Assyrians living in Ankawa were largely reluctant to discuss politics before the election and were unconfident in politicians' ability to attain their rights. The lists that ran as part of the elections also expressed differing political motives; while the CSAPC list ran for the recognition of the three names as one people, the Unified Chaldean List wanted to be considered a separate group and threatened to file suits in the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq.[9]
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council List (68)
The politicians that were elected to parliament are as follows:
Thair Abdalahad Ogostin (CSAPC)
Susan Yousif Khoshaba (CSAPC)
Amir Goga Yousif (CSAPC)
Salem Toma Kako (ADM)
Jihan Ismael Benyamin (ADM)
Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010
A parliamentary election was held on 7 March 2010. The parliament previously approved to increase the number of seats from 275 to 325, of which 5 seats were reserved for Assyrians. The reserved seats for Assyrian in Iraqi parliament was the first in the country's history. Going into the elections, four Christians were in the parliament: Yonadam Kanna (ADM), Fawzi Hariri (KDP,) Ablahad Afraim Sawa (CDUP,) and Wijdan Michael (Allawi list.)
A Governorate (or local) elections were held in Iraq on 20 April 2013, with Nineveh Governorate along with Anbar voting on June 20, due to violence in the city caused by the Islamic State of Iraq. Elections didn't take place in the 3 governorates forming the Kurdistan Region.
As with the previous local elections, 3 seats were reserved for Assyrians, including one each in Baghdad, Nineveh and Basra. The Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council reclaimed their seats in Nineveh and Baghdad, by receiving 8,635 and 1,513 votes respectively.[11][12]
Kurdistan Region held elections to elect its 111-member Kurdistan National Assembly on 21 September 2013. Each Kurdish party listed 100 candidates while each Assyrian and Turkman party listed 5 candidates. There were 3 Assyrian lists running for the five reserved seats. Prior to the election, some ADM members decided to leave the party and run on their own list called Sons of Mesopotamia.
The elections resulted in the Popular Council losing one seat, while ADM retaining two seats and the new Mesopotamia List being given one seat.[13] Yaqoub Gorgis and Lina Azriya Bahram of the ADM were elected along with Srood Maqdasy from the Mesopotamia List.[13] Within the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List, the Popular Council managed retain its 2 seats.
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List individual votes:
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List
Name
Party
Votes
Wahida Yaqo Hirmiz
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council
2,517
Kamal Yalda Markoz
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council
1,466
Nina Louis
Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party
507
Sargon Salim
Assyrian Patriotic Party
400
Janan Jabbar
Chaldean National Council
273
Other Assyrians ran in Kurdish parties, but non were able to get enough votes to win a seat in the parliament.[14][15] Many voters in Assyrian dominated Areas voted for these parties, including 3,377 votes for the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Ankawa alone.
Azad was replaced Joseph Sylawa. ADM tried but failed to make Sargon Lazar a minister, after Sargon resigned his seat and gave it to Imad Youkhana Yaqo.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 12 May 2018, electing 329 members of the Council of Representatives. A total of 7 different Assyrian lists competed for the 5 reserved seats. Babylon Movement, a mostly non-Assyrian militia linked to the Iranian-backed paramilitary group, entered the parliament for the first time after receiving more than 33,000 votes, leading to winning 2 seats. CSAPC, Rafidain list and the Chaldean Catholic-supported Chaldean list all received one seat. Many within the Assyrian community publicly condemned Babylon Movement and its leader Rayan al-Kildani for taking reserved seats for the Assyrian communities through votes coming mostly from southern Shia Arab individuals.[16] The results to some even calling for the then US President Donald Trump to pressure Iraqi authorities to invalidate the results, however no actions were taken.
The 2023 Iraqi governorate elections were held on December 18, 2023, after almost 10 years passing after the last one. The delay was mostly due to the 2014 ISIS invasion and occupation. Governorates under the KRG did not participate. For the Assyrians, reserved seats were allocated in the following governorates: Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Ninewa.[20]
↑ Iraqi Kurdistan Political Development and Emergent Democracy By Gareth R V Stansfield, Inc NetLibrary. page 201.
↑ J. C. Michael, “The Chaldo-Assyrian Cause in Iraq: Implications for Maronites”, National Apostolate of Maronites Convention, Orlando, Florida, July 16, 2004
Schmidinger, Thomas (2019). "Christians in Iraq". Beyond ISIS: History and Future of Religious Minorities in Iraq. London: Transnational Press. pp.113–124. ISBN9781912997152.
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