BAGHDAD, Iraq – The head of the Kurdish bloc in Iraq’s parliament accused Iraqi Arab parties of “chauvinism” for refusing to pass a bill that would grant official recognition to Kurdish and other languages spoken in the multi-ethnic country.
“All the (Arab) Shiite and Sunni blocs in parliament are against Iraq’s official languages bill,” Muyad Tayib told Rudaw.
“This is a constitutional bill and is not illegal,” Tayib said, adding that only the Kurdish bloc was supporting the bill. It calls for the recognition of Kurdish as an official language alongside Arabic.
“The constitution itself says that Kurdish and Arabic are two official languages in Iraq, but in their mentality of chauvinism they are not willing to pass this law because they think it will weaken the Arabic language,” Tayib complained.
Article 4 of the constitution says that Kurdish and Arabic are Iraq’s two official languages, while other smaller languages are also recognized in their dominant regions.
“The Arab parties say that Arabic should be the spoken language and that there is no need for any other official language,” said Tayib.
The language bill was proposed more than four years ago, but has been held up by serious disagreements among Iraqi parties.
Meanwhile, Ali Shalala, an MP from the ruling Shiite State of Law Coalition, said that the issue will be debated and resolved in Monday’s session. “There is some kind of understanding on this project and it will be solved,” he assured.
Shalala said there were some ambiguities about the geographical aspects of these languages.
“The difference of opinions is over whether these other languages will be official across Iraq or only in their own areas,” he explained to Rudaw, “and whether these people can deal with the government in their own languages.”
