Chaldean National Congress

Chaldean National Congress ܡܲܘܬܒܼܵܐ ܐܘܡܬܲܢܵܝܐ ܟܲܠܕܵܝܐ
Abbreviation	CNC
Founder	Dhia Putros
Founded	2002
Ideology	Chaldean-Assyrian interests Conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
Website
Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
Politics of Iraq Political parties Elections

The Chaldean National Congress (Chaldean Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܘܬܒܼܵܐ ܐܘܡܬܲܢܵܝܐ ܟܲܠܕܵܝܐ) was an Assyrian-separatist political party that was founded in 2002. The party was founded in the United States, and primarily operated from the 2000's and early 2010's. The party is largely considered inactive in modern Assyrian politics in Iraq.

The Chaldean National Congress was originally founded on April 29, 2002 in San Diego, under the leadership of Dhia Putros and Ghassan Hanna. The formation of the party was announced at a rally by Sarhad Jammo, a Chaldean Catholic priest who was also based in San Diego.^[1] The party held a position of advocating for the rights of Chaldeans in the emerging government of Iraq following the U.S. invasion, albeit in the form of declaring them a distinct ethnicity from Assyrians. This was shared by Ghassan Hanna, who although tried to consolidate Chaldeans and Assyrians as one ethnic group, he continued to categorically reject a unifying ethnic background by noting the demographic changes between the two groups.^[2]

In July of 2003, the organization of the Baghdad branch of the part was decided on, being led by Fouad Bodagh.^[3] Around the same time, the party had been vocal about wanting Chaldean representation in the forthcoming Council of Representatives of Iraq, anxious about the possibility of a Shiite theocracy.^[4]

In the 2010 Iraqi parliamentary election, the party received 6,608 votes across all governorates, landing them behind the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council and the Rafidain List in terms of number of votes but failing to win any seats.^[5] In 2012, Dhia Putros resigned from his position as secretary to join the Human Rights Commission of Iraqi Kurdistan as a chairman, beginning his position in 2013.^[6]

From its founding, the Chaldean National Congress received heavy amounts of criticism from the Assyrian diaspora. Sarhad Jammo's involvement prompted concerns from The Holy See, as they believed the formation of the party was not only suspicious, but that it would threaten the ideals of Pro Oriente and the Common Christological Declaration between the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. The formation of the party also received criticism from the Assyrian community and members of the Chaldean church, who felt that the separatist agenda was contrary to the needs of the Assyrian people in forming proper representation in Iraqi society after the invasion.^[7]

On August 31, 2017, on the ankawa.com website, the party released a criticism of a speech by Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako, accusing him of interfering the Chaldean Catholic Church with their political matters. In response, Cardinal Sako branded organizations such as the Congress as those who had been previously harming Assyrians and other Christian communities in Iraq, asserting that the Congress had unrealistic viewpoints about the future of the Nineveh Plains, and that the CNC had not contributed substantively to securing the decimated and vulnerable Christian presence there. He lamented that the criticisms were as of the result of inner party divisions, and that "some use the Chaldean name for personal interests."^[8]

The Chaldean National Congress is largely considered inactive in the realm of modern politics in Iraq, especially regarding Iraqi Assyrians. The party itself has not been part of Assyrian elections in Iraq since 2013, when it ran as part of a united list in the 2013 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election.^[9]

However, there have been some occurrences where the party has shown up in name. In 2023, the party denounced the revocation of Louis Raphaël I Sako's decree, calling on then Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid to reverse his decision.^[10] In 2024, following the revocation of minority seats in the Kurdish parliament, the party boycotted that year's Kurdistan Region parliamentary election, calling the ruling an "attack on coexistence and a violation of the constitution."^[11] Two months later, the party was signed onto a political alliance of Armenian and inactive Assyrian organizations called "The Christian Alliance", announced by Ano Abdoka.^[12] The alliance, however, received criticism and dismay by members of the Assyrian community, mostly due to the lack of support of parties that signed on to the coalition and their inactivity.

Assyrian politics in Iraq