2024 Syrian parliamentary election explained

Country:Syria
Type:parliamentary
Previous Election:2020 Syrian parliamentary election
Previous Year:2020
Next Election:2028 Syrian parliamentary election
Next Year:2028
Election Date:15 July 2024
Seats For Election:All 250 seats in the People's Assembly
Majority Seats:126
Turnout:38.16%
Ongoing:no
Image1:Bashar al-Assad (2018-05-17) 03 (cropped).jpg
Leader1:Bashar al-Assad
Party1:Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region
Alliance1:National Progressive Front (Syria)
Last Election1:183
Seats1:185
Seat Change1: 2
Speaker
Before Election:Hammouda Sabbagh
Before Party:Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region
Posttitle:Elected
Speaker
After Party:Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region

Parliamentary elections were held in Syria on 15 July 2024. The date was set by a decree issued by President Bashar al-Assad on 11 May 2024.[1] 250 members were elected to serve a four-year term in the People's Assembly.[1] Syria's parliamentary elections occur every four years, with the last held in 2020.

Background

The 250-member People's Assembly has been little more than a rubber stamp for the ruling Ba'ath party since it came to power in a 1963 coup.[2] [3] [4] Two-thirds of the seats in the assembly are reserved for the Ba'athists and their allies in the National Progressive Front, meaning it is impossible for the Ba'athists to lose an election.[3] However, since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, elections to the Assembly have been seen as a "barometer of influence among the ruling elite" namely due to the rise in non-Alawite members that represent various new groups and militias which have helped prop-up the Ba'athist regime.[3] As such, Assad instructed the security apparatus of Syria not to intervene in Ba'athist primaries, to inject new "flavor" to revitalize the party.[3] [2]

The government is also granting reforms as part of a rehabilitation effort with rebels that surrendered in Daraa, which the newly elected assembly will draft. In 2018, rebels in Daraa agreed to surrender following a government offensive. However, anti-government sentiment remained strong in the region as protestors in Suwayda called for a boycott of the elections.[5] [6]

Among the pressing issues of the election was the government's poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the flight or fatigue of the country's doctors. Additionally, the Syrian pound reached new lows against the US dollar, resulting in food and fuel inflation. The government also cancelled subsidies while doubling public sector and pension wages. Assad meanwhile is focusing on parliament being a "national dialogue" for domestic issues to be resolved, and repairing relations with Turkey in order for the latter to withdraw from their occupied territories.

Electoral system

The 250 seats of the People's Assembly of Syria are elected through party block voting in 15 multi-member constituencies. Voters in a riding choose a list of candidates, and the one with the most votes wins all the seats at stake in the riding. Each list is made up of a minimum of two-thirds of Ba'ath Party candidates and half of workers and peasants, so that the total of the latter is 127 out of the total of 250 elected deputies.

Candidate submissions were accepted between 20 and 26 May.[7] On 29 May the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections announced that 11,897 people had applied to run for the People's Assembly, of whom 9,194 were approved to run.[8] Candidates were allowed to contest seats in rebel-held areas, although only voters living in government-held areas were allowed to vote. The number of candidates who were finally listed in ballot papers for the 250 seats was reduced to 1,516, while the government set up 8,151 polling stations for the election.[9] [10] The Ba'ath party and its allies fielded 185 candidates.[11]

Voting was not held in rebel-occupied northwest Syria, alongside the ambiguously contended northeast region. Additionally, Syrians abroad were not allowed to participate in the election.[12]

Conduct

Polling stations opened at 07:00, and were supposed to close at 21:00[13] but were extended by two hours by the Higher Judicial Committee.[14] The stated size of the eligible electorate was criticized by the Atlantic Council due to a lack of maintenance of civil registry adult records.[15]

Incidents

Several polling stations were attacked by demonstrators who also destroyed ballot boxes while chanting anti-Assad slogans in As-Suwayda Governorate. One protester was injured after being shot by security forces.[16]

Elections in the governorates of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Daraa were canceled and had to be repeated due to violations relating to some voters voting more than once.[17] [18]

Results

See also: Second Hussein Arnous government.

The results were published on 18 July, with the nationwide turnout for the election at 38.16%.[19] [20] A total of 7,326,844 voters participated out of an eligible 19,200,325.[21]

The Ba'ath party won 169 seats, while its allies won 16 (three for the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, two for the Syrian Communist Party (Unified), two for the Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash), two for the National Covenant Party, two for the Arab Democratic Union Party, two for the Socialist Unionist Party, two for the Arab Socialist Union Party, and one for the Democratic Socialist Unionist Party). The remaining 65 seats were won by independents.[22]

Reactions

Overseas opposition groups in exile described the election as "absurd", saying that it only represented "the ruling authority".[16] The Kurdish National Council stated that they consider the election illegitimate, saying that the "Syrian regime continues to exert its authority by force through these elections, disregarding UN resolutions aimed at resolving the civil war and political issues in Syria".[23]

The German ambassador to Syria stated that Germany does not support holding elections in Syria at the moment, explaining that free and fair elections are an integral part of resolving the conflict and establishing peace in Syria, but the conditions were not yet ready and that holding the election at this time would entrench the status quo of conflict and division. Germany also reiterated its support of the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.[24]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Oweis . Khaled Yacoub . 12 May 2024 . Syria to elect parliament in July after Assad makes changes in ruling Baath party . MENA . en . 13 May 2024 . 13 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240513041610/https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/05/12/assad-syria-elections/ . live .
  2. Web site: Pran . Vladimir . Sfeir . Maroun . 25 April 2024 . The Syrian parliamentary elections are coming up. Should anyone care? . 4 July 2024 . . en-US . 22 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722101807/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/syrian-peoples-assembly-elections-parliament-1/ . live .
  3. Web site: Oweis . Khaled Yacoub . Syria to elect parliament in July after Assad makes changes in ruling Baath party . . 5 July 2024 . 13 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240513041610/https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/05/12/assad-syria-elections/ . live .
  4. Web site: 12 July 2024 . Syrians prepare for 'predetermined' election . 12 July 2024 . . en.
  5. Web site: 5 July 2024 . Protesters in As-Suwayda call for boycott of People's Assembly elections . 6 July 2024 . . en-US . 22 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722100000/https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2024/07/protesters-in-as-suwayda-call-for-boycott-of-peoples-assembly-elections/ . live .
  6. Web site: 30 June 2024 . Syrians believe parliamentary elections offer no prospects of change . 4 July 2024 . North Press Agency . en-US . 22 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722100014/https://npasyria.com/en/114998/ . live .
  7. Web site: 29 May 2024 . بعد تغييرات أمنية وحزبية... هل دمشق مقبلة على تغييرات فعلية؟ . After security and partisan changes... Is Damascus on the verge of actual changes? . 4 July 2024 . . ar . 22 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722095951/https://aawsat.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/5022329-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%BA%D9%8A%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%87%D9%84-%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%82-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AA%D8%BA%D9%8A%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%81%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%D8%9F . live .
  8. Web site: 29 May 2024 . أكثر من ثلثهم عمال وفلاحون.. 9194 مرشحاً لانتخابات برلمان النظام السوري . More than a third of them are workers and farmers... 9,194 candidates for the Syrian regime’s parliamentary elections . . ar . 18 June 2024 . 18 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240718125935/https://www.syria.tv/%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%AB%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AB%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%88%D9%81%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%86-9194-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B4%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A . live .
  9. Web site: جوليا . عوض . 4 July 2024 . اللجنة القضائية العليا للانتخابات: تحديد 8150 مركز اقتراع في انتخابات مجلس الشعب . The Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections: We selected 8,150 polling stations for the People’s Assembly elections . 4 July 2024 . . ar . 4 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240704150525/https://www.sana.sy/?p=2109045 . live .
  10. Web site: Aji . Albert . Sewell . Abby . Syrians Vote for Next Parliament, Which May Pave the Way to Extending Assad's Rule . Time . 15 July 2024 .
  11. Web site: AJI . ALBERT . SEWELL . ABBY . Syrian President Assad's Baath Party clinches control of parliament, election results show . . 19 July 2024 . 22 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722103011/https://apnews.com/article/syria-parliament-election-results-5b88cba99a959e63c76f28daf425ef61 . live .
  12. Web site: Aji . Albert . Sewell . Abby . Syrians vote for their next parliament, which may pave the way for Assad to extend his rule . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240716015216/https://apnews.com/article/syria-parliament-election-66d54cf9397c02cd8afbe5aa739ba569 . 16 July 2024 . 16 July 2024 . Associated Press.
  13. Web site: Salameh . Manar . 15 July 2024 . Syrians head to ballot boxes this morning to elect their representatives in People's Assembly . 16 July 2024 . . en-US . 18 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240718125944/https://sana.sy/en/?p=334298 . live .
  14. Web site: Mazen . 15 July 2024 . Higher Judicial Committee announces the closing of ballot boxes and beginning of counting votes . 16 July 2024 . . en-US . 18 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240718125940/https://sana.sy/en/?p=334509 . live .
  15. Web site: Pran . Vladimir . Sfeir . Maroun . 2024-07-10 . Syria's inflated electorate is caused by phantom voters . 2024-07-22 . Atlantic Council . en-US.
  16. Web site: 15 July 2024 . No surprises expected as Syrians vote in parliamentary poll . 15 July 2024 . . en.
  17. Web site: عوض . جوليا . 16 July 2024 . القاضي مراد: إعادة الانتخابات في عدد من مراكز حلب وريفها . Judge Murad: Elections will be repeated in a number of centers in Aleppo and its countryside . . Damascus.
  18. Web site: Aji . Albert . Syrian President Assad's Baath Party clinches control of parliament, election results show . AP News . 18 July 2024 . 18 July 2024 . 22 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722103011/https://apnews.com/article/syria-parliament-election-results-5b88cba99a959e63c76f28daf425ef61 . live .
  19. Web site: Syrian President Assad's Baath Party clinches control of parliament, election results show . ABC News . 18 July 2024 .
  20. Web site: اللجنة القضائية العليا للانتخابات تعلن نتائج انتخابات مجلس الشعب للدور التشريعي الرابع . alwehda.gov.sy . 18 July 2024 . 18 July 2024 . 22 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722101213/http://wehda.alwehda.gov.sy/?p=117751 . live .
  21. Web site: 18 July 2024 . اللجنة القضائية العليا للانتخابات تعلن نتائج انتخابات مجلس الشعب للدور التشريعي الرابع . 19 July 2024 . Syrian Arab News Agency . ar . 18 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240718141651/https://sana.sy/?p=2115286 . live .
  22. Web site: Syria's ruling Baath party wins parliamentary vote as expected . . 19 July 2024.
  23. Web site: 2024-07-15 . ENKS denounces Syrian elections as illegitimate, claims bias towards ruling party . Kurdistan 24 . 22 July 2024 . 17 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240717101557/https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/35828-ENKS-denounces-Syrian-elections-as-illegitimate,-claims-bias-towards-ruling-party . live .
  24. Web site: 10 July 2024 . Germany opposes holding any elections currently in Syria: It would entrench division . 11 July 2024 . . en-US . 11 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240711092949/https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2024/07/germany-opposes-holding-any-elections-currently-in-syria-it-would-entrench-division/ . live .

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