Iraq's parliament voted on Monday to guarantee religious minorities seats on provincial councils to be selected next year, but drew ire from some politicians who said greater safeguards for fragile groups were needed. The measure, passed by 106 out of 150 lawmakers present, gives six out of 440 provincial council seats nationwide to Christians, Yazidis and other religious and ethnic groups who are a small part of Iraq's 28-million, mainly Muslim, population. Some lawmakers said the measure fell short of a UN proposal to set aside 12 seats in the polls, which are sure to reconfigure Iraqi politics when they take place in early 2009. “It is a degrading decision for the unique minorities of this country. It does not serve the public interest and we consider it a major insult for all minorities in Iraq,” said Yunadim Kanna, one of the few Christian members of parliament. Kanna said he believed Christians, estimated to number as many as 750,000, should have received more seats than other, even smaller minorities, some of whom number in the thousands. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Arab, chided parliament for failing to provide such safeguards when they passed the provincial election law in September. The elections, which will select council members in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces, are considered essential to beginning to heal the country's political and religious divisions. The polls could reshape Iraqi politics if Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the last such polls in 2005, come out in force. The vote will also be a battleground for competing Shi'ite Arab parties, especially in Iraq's south. The plight of Iraq's Christians has come to the fore as at least 1,500 Christian families last month fled the northern city of Mosul, where some were targeted for attack or intimidation. Some Christian families are returning to Mosul, but the affair highlighted the vulnerability of Iraqi minorities.
