Damascus [Syria], October 6: Syria on October 5 held its first parliamentary elections since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad's regime late last year.
According to the law, 210 parliamentary seats will be elected, of which one-third will be directly appointed by Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa . The remaining 140 seats will be voted for by electors in the provinces, Al Jazeera reported.
The interim government believes that it is not yet possible to let people vote directly (universal ballot) because the situation of population displacement and lost documents after many years of war in Syria makes voting in this way unfeasible.
"There are many laws waiting to be passed that need to be voted on so that we can continue the process of construction and prosperity. Building Syria is a common mission, and all Syrians must contribute to that mission," al-Sharaa said on October 5.
The new parliament will be tasked with passing a new electoral law and constitution. More than 1,500 candidates are running for seats in the Syrian parliament. The legislature will serve a 30-month term, with a possible extension, according to The Guardian .
According to the rules, parliamentary candidates must not be "supporters of the previous regime" and must not promote secession or division. Syrian officials began counting votes on October 5 and expected results soon.
The southern Syrian province of Sweida, which is home to a majority of the Druze, and the provinces of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including Hasakah and Raqqa, were not allowed to vote due to tensions between local authorities and the Damascus government .
The old political parties have been dissolved and the parliamentary candidates this time do not represent any party, as there is no system for registering political parties.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
