Iraqi Christian Campaigning Hindered by Dangers, Lack of Funding
Iraq's Christian parties registered to take part in the country’s first democratic elections say they lack funding and are living in danger ahead of this month’s landmark elections.
Iraq's Christian parties registered to take part in the country’s first democratic elections say they lack funding and are living in danger ahead of this month’s landmark elections, according to recent reports.
Already the victims of several church bombings since August and attacks by insurgents in the war-torn nation, Iraq's 700,000 Christians, who make up just three percent of Iraq's 26 million people, are struggling to get their message across, according to the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
“Governmental parties are able to reach out to the public through the media because they have greater financial resources,” said Odeesho Toma, a member of the Assyrian Patriotic Party, which is running on a coalition list with Kurdish parties.
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“We have to hold meetings and symposiums for our people in the north to urge them to vote for the list we are part of,” Toma told AAP.
Even for parties with more available funds, such as the Assyrian Democratic Movement, television advertising is too costly.
“We are facing financial troubles and huge amounts of money are required if we want to make use of satellite TV stations in our campaign,” said William Warda, head of the culture and information bureau in the Assyrian Democratic Movement.
Unlike big governmental parties, such as Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord and the two main Kurdish parties, which have ample finance at their disposal, Christian groups—many of them newly formed—seem to be “saving their pennies,” AAP reported.
Except for the Assyrian Democratic Movement, the oldest and most powerful party that owns Ashour TV station and Ashour radio, Christian parties are using weekly newspapers and poorly financed radio stations with restricted transmission ranges to reach out to the public. However, some television stations run by Christian parties are reportedly working from abroad and apparently addressing Iraqi Christian communities there, like the Surayah TV of the Bethnarhain Patriotic Union based in Sweden and Assyrians based in Chicago.
According to Italy-based AsiaNews, eight of the some 70 parties that had registered to take part in the Jan. 30 elections have been identified to be Christian parties.
The agency said that the parties hope to be supported by the Iraqi expatriates—which will join in the voting to elect a 275-member assembly that will appoint a government and draft a constitution.
AsiaNews reported last month that half a million participants are expected to vote out of the 800,000 eligible voters of more than 3 million Iraqi expatriates living in 14 countries—Canada, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Sweden, Turkey, the UK, the UAE, and the USA.
