Syria will elect members of its first post-Assad parliament on Sunday in a process criticised as undemocratic, with a third of the members appointed by interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
The assembly’s formation is set to consolidate the power of Sharaa, whose Islamist forces led a coalition and toppled the long-time ruler, Bashar al-Assad, in December after more than 12 years of civil war and close to six decades of family rule.
According to the organising committee, there are more than 1,500 candidates, with 14 per cent of women running for the assembly, which will have a renewable 30-month mandate. Sharaa is set to appoint 70 representatives out of the 210-member body.
The other two-thirds will be selected by the local committees appointed by the electoral commission, which itself was selected by Sharaa. However, southern Syria’s Druze-majority Suwayda province, which recently suffered sectarian bloodshed in July, is excluded from the process for now. Their 32 seats will remain empty.
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Sharaa has said it would be impossible to organise direct elections now, since millions have fled the country during the country’s civil war. Around 6,000 people are taking part in Sunday’s election process. Preliminary results are expected on Sunday, with the final list of names to be announced on Monday.
The rules to participate in elections are clear; anyone having ties with the former government will not be allowed to take part in the election process. In a joint statement last month, more than a dozen non-governmental organisations said that the “process is designed in a way that would lend all control to Sharaa” since he can control and manipulate the formation of the parliament body in the country.
"You can call the process what you like, but not elections," said Bassam Alahmad, executive director of the France-based Syrians for Truth and Justice, among the groups that signed the statement.
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