The Ishtar Patriotic List (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: قائمة عشتار الوطنية) was an Assyrian political list that was formed to run in the

2009 Iraqi governorate elections Governorate or provincial elections were held in Iraq on 31 January 2009, to replace the local councils in fourteen of the eighteen governorates of Iraq that were elected in the 2005 Iraqi governorate elections. 14,431 candidates, including 3, ...

. The list's biggest party was the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council, a

KDP KDP may refer to: Businesses *Kindle Direct Publishing, an e-publisher that bans without reason *Keurig Dr Pepper, a beverage conglomerate Political parties * Karpatendeutsche Partei (KdP; Carpathian Germany Party), Czechoslovakia * Katipunan ...

-funded political party founded in 2007. After their participation in the 2009 elections, the Ishtar List was retrospectively regarded as part of the

Kurdish Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the official executive body of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the majority party or list who also select the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdish polit ...

's attempts to exert further influence in the

Nineveh Plains Nineveh Plains (, Modern ; ; ) is a region in Nineveh Governorate in Iraq. Located to the north and east of the city Mosul, it is the only Christian-majority region in Iraq and have been a gathering point for Iraqi Christians since 2003. Control o ...

, with the list displacing the seats of the Rafidain List and the

Assyrian Democratic Movement The Assyrian Democratic Movement (, , ADM), popularly known as Zowaa (), is an Assyrian political party situated in Iraq, and one of the main Assyrian parties within the Iraqi parliament. The Assyrian Democratic Movement states its aims are to e ...

. The list only participated in the 2009 elections.

Electoral history

The Ishtar Patriotic List was first launched in late 2008, and was announced to be participating in the Iraqi elections from

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

. In the 2009 Iraqi governorate elections, the Ishtar List was backed by Sarkis Aghajan Mamendo, an Assyrian minister in the KRG. Assyrians were previously urged to participate in that year's elections by the parties represented, due to the events of the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

and the subsequent persecution against the community during this time. The list was composed of the following parties and candidates:Overview of Assyrian Slates Running in the 2009 Iraqi Provincial Council Elections
''

Assyrian International News Agency The Assyrian International News Agency is a privately funded, independent news agency which provides news and analysis on Assyrian and Assyrian-related issues. It was founded by Peter BetBasoo and Firas Jatou in 1995. Background The website is ...

'', 2008-12-23 * Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council (CSAPC) * Bet Nahrain Democratic Party (BNDP) * Chaldean National Congress (CNC) *

Beth Nahrin Patriotic Union Beth Nahrin Patriotic Union (Arabic: الاتحاد الوطني بيت نهرين) is an Assyrian political party founded in 1996, in the Slemani area of Iraq, as part of the Dawronoye movement. Since the 2003 Iraq War The Iraq War () ...

(PUBN) *

Syriac Assembly Movement The Syriac Assembly Movement () (), formerly known as the Syriac Independent Gathering Movement (), is an Assyrian political party from Iraq. The party's membership comprised mostly Assyrian Christians, particularly those who belonged to the Syria ...

(than known as the Syriac Independent Gathering Movement) * Notables of Qaraqosh * Chaldean Cultural Society * For

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

: Sa'ad Tanyos Jajji (SIGM) * For

Baghdad Governorate Baghdad Governorate ( ''Muḥāfaẓat Baġdād''), also known as the Baghdad Province, is the capital governorate of Iraq. It includes the capital Baghdad as well as the surrounding metropolitan area. The governorate is one of two small province ...

: Giwargis Esho Sada (BNDP) The list won the reserved Assyrian seats in both

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

, electing both of the candidates who ran for the election.

Criticism

Upon the conclusion of the elections, it was reported that a number of Assyrians had been fired from their jobs due to not having voted for the Ishtar List. Three Assyrians in particular, two of whom were guards and the other a janitor, had complained that they were fired by the KRG-funded Council for Christian Affairs and had been called traitors for voting for the Al-Rafidain List. Assyrians had also accused the list of having won its votes by pressuring voters. A report by the Assyria Council of Europe around the time of the elections details that the people behind the list had been actively attempting to buy votes, as well as threaten economic sanctions. In

Bakhdida Qaraqosh (; (official name), or , also known as al-Ḥamdāniyya or Qara-Qūš; a Turkic placename meaning "Black Bird") is an Assyrian city in the Nineveh Governorate, of Iraq located about southeast of the city of Mosul and west of Erbil a ...

, certain militia members attempted to stop members of the ADM from campaigning for Al-Rafidain through intimidations and beatings. Threats were also made to the people in the town, warning families that they would be displaced and having student transportation to the

University of Mosul The University of Mosul () is a public university located in Mosul. It is one of the largest educational and research centers in the Middle East, and the second largest in Iraq, behind the University of Baghdad. The University of Mosul was close ...

suspended if votes weren't directed towards the Ishtar List. Afram Yakoub, who wrote the report and was an election observer, had even experienced a run-in with a militia, which he suspected had to do with his investigations of the corruption of the Ishtar List in Bakhdida. Yonadam Kanna and the ADM filed complaints to Iraq authorities following the election due to the list's affiliation with militias in the Nineveh Plains. In a WikiLeaks article from July 2009, Kanna as well as

Ablahad Afraim Sawa Ablahad Afraim Sawa () is an Assyrians in Iraq, Iraqi Assyrian politician and former member of the National Assembly of Iraq. He was elected as part of the Democratic Alliance of Kurdistan, which had helped his political party, the Chaldean Democ ...

complained about the list serving the interests of the KDP as a proxy, and engaging in electoral fraud to win elections. In a 2018 report from the

Assyrian Policy Institute The Assyrian Policy Institute (API) is a non-governmental and nonprofit organization based in the United States that primarily advocates for the rights of Assyrians and other minorities in the Middle East including Yazidis and Mandaeans. Early h ...

, the group criticized the Ishtar Patriotic List for acting as a Kurdish proxy during the elections, and for allowing sectarian parties such as the Syriac Assembly Movement to win in the elections. The group also criticized what they described as a generic report from the KRG representation to the UK, describing how the seemingly anti-KRG ADM won less votes than the Ishtar List, indicating popular support despite previous allegations of fraud.

Electoral history

Criticism

References

See also