Assyrian politics in Iraq have been taking many different turns since theUSinvasion 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 theAssyrian Democratic Movement. However,Sarkis Aghajan began to challenge its power beginning in 2006 with the opening ofIshtar TV and theKDP-affiliatedChaldean 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 theBabylon Movement under the leadership ofRayan al-Kildani.
On May 19, 1992, elections were held for theKurdistan 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 aclosed list guaranteeing that there would be five Assyrian seats in the KNA.There were four Assyrian lists in the elections:
Results[1]
| ADM | KCU | DC | KAD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dohuk | 5,555 | 1,841 | 181 | 241 |
| Erbil | 900 | 880 | 347 | 1,855 |
| Sulemani | 83 | 36 | 9 | 38 |
| Darbandikhan (parts of Kirkuk) | 4 | - | - | - |
| Total | 6,543 54% | 2,757 23% | 537 5% | 2,134 18% |
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, inDohuk.[2]
A general election was held on 30 January 2005 to elect a temporary 275-memberCouncil 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;
Chaldean National Congress was initially part of list 204, but ended up dropping off before the election.Chaldean Democratic Union Party (CDUP),Assyrian Patriotic Party (APP) andBet Nahrain Democratic Party (BNDP) of Romeo Hakkari joined the Kurdistani list (130).
| Rafidain 204 | ANA 139 | Bet-Nahrain 148 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anbar | 10 | 1 | 4 |
| Arbil | 958 | 106 | 217 |
| Babil | 104 | 72 | 101 |
| Baghdad | 7,430 | 1,210 | 1,472 |
| Basra | 120 | 153 | 179 |
| Diyala | 219 | 114 | 56 |
| Dohuk | 4,165 | 155 | 137 |
| Karbala | 44 | 57 | 75 |
| Kirkuk | 978 | 599 | 389 |
| Missan | 15 | 29 | 29 |
| Muthanna | 10 | 22 | 18 |
| Najaf | 56 | 59 | 63 |
| Ninawa | 3,346 | 97 | 302 |
| Qadissiya | 38 | 57 | 48 |
| Salahadin | 10 | 18 | 31 |
| Sulaymani | 99 | 39 | 174 |
| Thiqar | 68 | 101 | 92 |
| Wasit | 47 | 32 | 27 |
| Out-of-country voting | 18,538 | 4,198 | 727 |
| Total | 36,255 | 7,119 | 4,141 |
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 toYonadam 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 underIyad 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 theNineveh Governorate. The party received 4,650 votes and captured one seat (out of 41.)
| Rafidain 204 | Bet-Nahrain 148 | Minimum votes per seat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arbil | 2,001 | - | 15,120 |
| Dohuk | 4,919 | - | 8,918 |
| Kirkuk | 1,554 | - | 8,727 |
| Nineveh | 4,650 | 2,315 | 3,451 |
In addition, Salvana Boya of theAssyrian Patriotic Party was elected in theKirkuk Governorate council under the Kurdistani list.[3]
Elections for theKurdistan National Assembly, theparliament of theKurdistan Region of Iraq, were held on 30 January 2005, to coincide with the Iraqi legislative election andgovernoral council elections. All Assyrian-based parties joined theDemocratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan. The coalition won 104 of the 111 seats in the parliament, of which 5 were won by Assyrians:
A general election was held on 15 December 2005 to elect a permanent 275-memberIraqi Council of Representatives. The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from alist of parties. In the elections, there were three main Assyrian list:
Other Assyrian parties decided to side with non-Assyrian based list. TheChaldean Democratic Union Party decided to run under the Kurdish list (730.) The Iraqi Christian Democratic Party of Minas al-Yousifi joined the list of theIraqi National Dialogue Front (667.)Bet Nahrain Democratic Party of Romeo Hakkari withdrew.
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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) andAblahad 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 ofDohuk andArbil (includingSlemani andKirkuk.) 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.
In the election, there were three main Assyrian blocks fighting for votes. TheAssyrian Democratic Movement being one, under the list titledNational Rafidain List (504). The other being aKurdistan Democratic Party-backed block titled theIshtar Patriotic List (513).
The Ishtar Patriotic List included the following:
The third major list was theChaldean Democratic Union Party (503).
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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.
Kurdistan Region held elections to elect its 111-memberKurdistan National Assembly on 25 July 2009. Five seats are reserved for Assyrians. There were 8 Assyrian parties that initially signed up to participate in the elections. Prior to the elections, BNDP decided to withdraw. APP and KACP decided to run on a joint list. CDUP and CNC merged in a joint list as well.
| Results | Total | Seats | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dohuk | Zakho | Shaqlawa | Diana | Haodian | Ankawa | Erbil | Koysanjaq | Armota | Other | Votes | % | 2005 | 2009 | |
| Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council | 2,426 | 1,990 | 463 | 167 | 14 | 1,179 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 4,304 | 10,595 | 53.9 | - | 3 |
| Assyrian Democratic Movement | 3,703 | 362 | 173 | 170 | 28 | 930 | 40 | 6 | 12 | 266 | 5,690 | 28.3 | 2 | 2 |
| Chaldean Democratic Union Party Chaldean National Congress | 281 | 30 | 32 | 55 | 365 | 1 | 936 | 1,700 | 8.6 | 1 | - | |||
| Chaldo-Ashur Communist Party Assyrian Patriotic Party | 244 | 78 | 10 | 23 | - | 883 | 3 | 439 | 1,680 | 8.5 | - | - | ||
The elected politicians:
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,) andWijdan Michael (Allawi list.)
TheAssyrian Patriotic Party, Chaldean Democratic Forum, and theBet Nahrain Democratic Party announced on November 15, that they would create an alliance.
Five major lists have been created for the election;
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Three seats were won by the ADM and two seats by the CSAPC. The five elected into the parliament:
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 theIslamic 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.[7][8]
Kurdistan Region held elections to elect its 111-memberKurdistan 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 calledSons 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.[9] Yaqoub Gorgis and Lina Azriya Bahram of the ADM were elected along withSrood Maqdasy from the Mesopotamia List.[9] Within the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List, the Popular Council managed retain its 2 seats.
| Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | 2009 | 2013 | |
| Assyrian Democratic Movement | 6,145 | 47.4 | 2 | 2 |
| Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List | 5,730 | 44.2 | 3 | 2 |
| Sons of Mesopotamia List | 1,093 | 8.4 | - | 1 |
| Total | 12,968 | 100 | 5 | 5 |
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.[10][11] Many voters in Assyrian dominated Areas voted for these parties, including 3,377 votes for theKurdistan Democratic Party in Ankawa alone.
| Kurdistan Communist Party | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | votes | Ranking in List (out of 100) |
| Insaf Munif Yaqub | 374 | 4 |
| Abdulmasih Sleman Yalda | 205 | 13 |
| Victoria Yalda Gorgis | 64 | 47 |
| Bouya Markos Behnam | 59 | 49 |
| Nithal Walid Louis | 58 | 50 |
| Dalia Farid Noori | 40 | 57 |
| Talia Khamis Matti | 21 | 68 |
| Luay Jameel Sanati | 15 | 74 |
| Total | 836 | - |
| Kurdistan Democratic Party | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | votes | Ranking in List (out of 100) |
| Christof (Rebwar) Yalda | 3,497 | 71 |
| Sanna Yaqub | 824 | 100 |
| Total | 4,321 | - |
Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 30 April 2014, electing the 328 members of the Council of Representatives, of which 5 were reserved for the Assyrian minority. 2 of the seats were won by theAssyrian Democratic Movement, 2 by theChaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council, and one by theIraqi Communist Party who was under theCivil Democratic Alliance.
| 2014 Iraqi Parliament Assyrian winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Party | Votes | Governorate |
| Yonadam Kanna | Assyrian Democratic Movement | 9,023 | Baghdad |
| Sargon Lazar | Assyrian Democratic Movement | 3,908 | Kirkuk |
| Polis Shamoon Ishak | Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council | 1,240 | Erbil |
| Raed Ishak Matti | Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council | 4,929 | Nineveh |
| Azad Hirmiz Nissan | Iraqi Communist Party | 416 | Duhok |
Azad was replaced Joseph Sylawa. ADM tried but failed to make Sargon Lazar a minister, after Sargon resigned his seat and gave it toImad 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 leaderRayan al-Kildani for taking reserved seats for the Assyrian communities through votes coming mostly from southern Shia Arab individuals.[12] The results to some even calling for the then US PresidentDonald Trump to pressure Iraqi authorities to invalidate the results, however no actions were taken.
The2023 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 2014ISIS invasion and occupation. Governorates under the KRG did not participate. For theAssyrians, reserved seats were allocated in the following governorates: Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Ninewa.[13]
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