Before addressing the matter of proposed reforms for the constitution of Iraq, Mr. Kanna was asked about how is Iraq managing Coronavirus and the financial crisis.
Mr. Kanna stressed that the situation regarding Covid-19 is not very well as instructions from health authorities such as social distancing are not being followed appropriately.
The average number of daily cases is around 4000 and between 80 and 90 percent of infected people have recovered.
However, Mr. Kanna also said that he does not believe that the available data are accurate.
When asked about the economic situation, Mr. Kanna said that Iraq’s reliance on oil and the corruption in the government has caused damage to the Iraqi economy.
After thousands of people in Iraq organised ongoing demonstrations in the capital city Baghdad demanding change to the general conditions of the country and asking for basic needs such as electricity and water, one of the responses to the protestors was creating a committee to reform the constitution.
Mr. Kanna had been selected to be a member of this committee representing the Assyrian people.
When asked about the objectives and the progress of this committee, Mr. Kanna began his answer by highlighting to the audience that having such a committee and reforming the constitution will not fix the problems currently existing in Iraq.
Mr. Kanna said that he holds such a view as he believes that “the constitution has many sections that address important topics such as equality, welfare, and education, however, the problem has been that the people in charge of the country are not implementing what the constitution says”.
When asked about the criteria of how the members of this committee were selected, he mentioned that “although I had the intention to participate in it as a member, I was nominated by the speaker of the parliament before I nominated myself”.
Regarding the progress of the committee, Mr. Kanna said that they have revised the entire constitution, however, they always had obstacles when they reached sections that cause debates among different groups in Iraq.
Mr. Kanna said that his goal as a member of this committee is to include the cultures of Assyria and Babylon in the preamble of the constitution.
At the conclusion of the interview, the Assyrian MP said that he appreciates the continuous coverage of Assyrian news by the SBS Assyrian team as it creates a bridge between Assyrians of Iraq and Australia.
The full interview in Assyrian is available below:
