DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrians elected members of a new parliament on Monday in elections that were expected to produce few surprises but could pave the way for constitutional changes that would extend President Bashar Assad’s term in office.
The vote will be Syria’s fourth since mass anti-government protests in 2011 escalated into a brutal crackdown by security forces. Ongoing civil war This comes as an economic crisis hits the country and protests in the south intensify.
Syria’s 2024 parliamentary elections will not include the rebel-held northwest and the northeast, controlled by the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The voter count has not been released, and unlike the presidential election, Millions of Syrians Although their numbers have soared since the Civil War, they are not eligible to vote for representatives.
Western countries and Assad’s critics say the vote in government-controlled areas of Syria was neither free nor fair.
This year, 1,516 government-endorsed candidates are running for the 250-seat People’s Assembly. Some 8,151 polling stations have been set up in 15 constituencies in government-controlled areas, with results due to be announced on Monday night or the following day.
In the last election in 2020, results were delayed by several days due to technical issues, officials said. Assad’s Baath Party won 166 seats, along with allied parties, which won 17. Independent candidates won 67 seats.
More than 50 countries will hold elections in 2024
The vote will be as follows: Syria’s economy continues to deteriorate After years of conflict, Western-led sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic and declining donor aid, Malaise.
Meanwhile, the value of the country’s currency against the dollar has hit a new low, sparking food and fuel inflation. The subsidy system was partially withdrawn. Almost a year ago we doubled the wages of civil servants and pensioners.
Voters told The Associated Press that reviving Syria’s stagnating economy was a key issue for them.
“We hope that our trust in the new lawmakers will have a positive effect on the country and improve the situation,” Ahmad Al-Afoush, 40, said after voting in Damascus.
Shireen Al-Fraif hopes that the new parliament will proactively take measures to improve living conditions in Syria.
“I’m not saying the previous model wasn’t good, I just want it to be improved,” said the 47-year-old engineer.
In the southern provinces, where the Druze are predominant, SweidaIn Bangladesh, where an economic crisis has led to regular anti-government protests for nearly a year, many called for a boycott of the vote. Videos posted online by local activist media group Suwaida 24 and others showed protesters snatching ballot boxes from trucks to prevent people from reaching polling stations.
Elsewhere, campaigning was low-key, with candidates focusing mainly on popular slogans such as national unity and prosperity.
Vladimir Pran, an independent adviser on the transitional political and electoral process, said that the competitive part of the Syrian electoral process takes place before the polls open, and is the stage at which the list of voted Ba’ath Party candidates is sent to the party’s Central Command, allowing candidates to run in the elections.
“With the primaries over, the election is over,” he said. Once the Baath Party’s slate of candidates is complete, “you’ll check the slate and you’ll see that literally every one of them will make it to parliament.”
The number of incumbent lawmakers on this year’s shortlist is relatively low, suggesting some personnel shuffling within the Baath party.
Maroun Sfeir, a consultant on transitional elections and political processes, said the 169 candidates fielded by the Baath Party alone exceed the 167 parliament members needed to propose constitutional changes, protect the president from treason charges and veto the bill.
He also said 16 candidates from parties allied with the Baath Party were running on the same list, “just three away from the three-quarters majority of parliament members needed to pass the constitutional amendments.”
This leaves 65 vacancies for independent candidates, but Sfeir said they could not be expected to form a real opposition force.
“They are all pre-screened to ensure they are loyal and pose no threat,” he said.
President Assad faces an end to his term in 2028, and the next parliament is widely expected to try to pass constitutional amendments to extend his term.
___
Sewell reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Kareem Shehaieb contributed to this report from Beirut.
