This week, the Syrian regime is holding elections for the parliament. The system in Syria, like other authoritarian regimes in the region, is a form of election that is neither free nor fair. Yet they do have influence because the elections enable the regime to claim victory and then use the parliament to rubber-stamp different agendas.
The elections are worth monitoring for what they may tell us regarding the regime’s attempts to return to regions in Syria that are being illegally occupied by Turkey. In addition, there are regions controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Eastern Syria, which is backed by the US-led anti-ISIS coalition.
According to reports in Arab News, the elections will likely pave the way for the parliament to “extend the term of President Bashar Assad.”
Despite the bloody and brutal civil war that began in 2011, the Syrian regime has held four elections. In this election, there are 1,516 government-approved candidates who will compete for 250 seats in the parliament.
It is unclear how seats are apportioned in relation to the areas of Syria occupied by Turkey or the SDF, and the administration has not even said how many eligible voters there are. That is because this may reveal the fact that a large amount of the Syrian population lives abroad in exile, having been driven from the country since 2011. Syrians abroad cannot vote, Arab News noted.
The report reads: “Some 8,151 polling stations were set up in 15 voting districts in government-held areas. In the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida, where anti-government protests have been taking place regularly for nearly a year, many called for a boycott of the polls. Videos posted online showed protesters seizing ballot boxes off a truck in an attempt to stop them from arriving at polling stations.”
Symbolic legitimacy
UAE-based Al Ain specified that the parliament seats are divided into 127 reserved seats for “workers and peasants,” terminology that dates from the Ba’ath Party’s roots as an Arab socialist party from decades ago, when such terms were more common in the Global South and Soviet states.
Candidates in Syria must be at least 25 years old and citizens for 10 years. The elections are held every four years. The ruling Ba’ath Party currently has 166 seats in parliament and an additional 17 seats from affiliated party lists. Reports did suggest some changes in the ruling party, including the removal of some incumbent candidates, but it appears the Ba’ath will achieve similar rigged results as in the past, receiving around 169 seats.
The goal of the elections is to give the regime legitimacy; the results are not in doubt. However, the issues facing the Druze in Sweida are significant, as is the way in which the sovereignty will handle voting in areas in Eastern Syria, where the SDF controls most of the region but the regime continues to hold control inside cities – like in Qamishli.
In 2019, when Turkey invaded an area near Serekaniya, the regime agreed to return to areas near the border, which are often populated by Kurds. In the next four years, the Syrian regime will want to return to areas occupied by Turkey and controlled by the SDF. It is monitoring whether candidates from these areas, particularly Kurds from Afrin or Hasakeh, are included in the lists that are approved for the mostly rigged elections.
If the administration wants to do outreach, it would do well to include minority groups. In the past, the regime suppressed Kurdish rights; however, after 2011, when it wanted Kurdish support, it sought to make some changes.