The Assyrian Democratic Organization
The Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Mor Zakka I Iwas, has asked for the choice of a seat for his people or to share the current seat with the Armenians in Zahla, Lebanon.
A letter from the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch was delivered to the Lebanese President Emil Lahood regarding the representation of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the Lebanese Parliament. Similar letters were delivered to the Head of the Lebanese Parliament, Mr. Nabih Berri; Lebanese Prime Minister, Omar Karami; and Interior Minister Sulaiman Franjiyya.
Mount Lebanon Archbishop George Saliba delivered the letters on behalf of the Patriarch.
In his letter to the Lebanese President, the Patriarch requested a separate seat in the Lebanese Parliament if the new Lebanese constitution was amended and the number of seats were increased. ? Should this request not be granted, then the Patriarch asked that the current seat for the Armenians from Zahla be shared with his flock.
The Patriarch stated that the Syrian Orthodox feel that they have been misled and defrauded.
In his letters, Patriarch Zakka I Iwas reminded the officials that in 1992, the Lebanese government instituted the creation of a seat in Zahla for the members of the Syrian Orthodox Church.? His Holiness added that they make the fourth largest Christian sect in the region after the Maronites, Rum Orthodox, and Rum Catholics; however, the promise was not fulfilled.
The seat in question was instead granted to the Armenian Orthodox. The Patriarch asserted that the Interior Ministry records indicate that there are around 80,000 Syrian Orthodox in Zahla, including some 40,000 eligible voters.
