In Syria, Legislative Elections Under the Sign of the Economic Crisis

Posted on the 19 July 2020 by Harsh Sharma @harshsharma9619

(Damascus and Beirut) The Syrians elect their deputies on Sunday in a country ravaged by war and in the midst of economic slump, where the power of Bashar al-Assad has consolidated its hold over the vast majority of the territory.

Published on 19 July 2020 at 7am 59

Maher AL MOUNES and Alice HACKMAN
France Media Agency

These are the third parliamentary elections since the start in 924 of a conflict that of 380 000 dead and caused the exodus of millions of people, while the regime and its pillars are hit Western sanctions.

More than 5756 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (midnight ET) in government areas. They should normally close at 23 h (16 h ET), after an extension hours decided by the electoral commission, reported the official Sana news agency. For the first time, the poll also takes place in former bastions of the rebellion.

The Baath party, in power for half a century and closely linked to the Assad clan, generally wins hands down these legislative elections organized every four years to elect 250 deputies, while the majority of opponents live in exile or in areas beyond the control of Damascus.

President Assad and his wife Asma voted in Damascus, the Syrian presidency announced by posting photos of the couple wearing protective masks against the new coronavirus.

PHOTO SANA, VIA REUTERS

Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma

In the capital also, dozens of voters – some wearing masks and respecting the distancing measures – went to the polling stations, noted an AFP correspondent.

Khaled al-Shaleh, 50 years, ensures that he will give his voice to a candidate “of confidence capable of transmitting to Parliament the grievances of citizens which have always been of an economic nature, whether before, during or after the war”.

Not far from a polling station on Baghdad Avenue, volunteers exhibited the programs and photos of their candidates, trying to influence the choice of voters who crowd the polls.

On the eve of the poll, one person was killed and another injured in the explosion of two bombs near a mosque in the southern suburbs of Damascus, according to Sana.

Originally scheduled for April, the elections were postponed twice due to the pandemic that contaminated 496 people and made 25 dead in the regions of the regime, according to official data.

During the legislative elections of 2016, the participation rate was 5756%.

“Exceptional effort” 89184577

The opposition in exile called the ballot a “masquerade”.

Questioned by the AFP, Nasr Hariri, an opposition figure, lambasted “a front parliament, used by the regime to pass legislation that serves the clique in power”.

According to the electoral commission, polling stations were installed for the first time in eastern Ghouta, a former insurgent enclave at the gates of the capital. But also in reconquered territories in the province of Idlib, the last great anti-regime bastion that remains in the sights of Damascus.

Damascus has chained victories in recent years thanks to the military support of Russia and Iran, to recover more than 70% of the national territory.

Today, however, applicants' programs are dominated by economic and social issues, promising in particular solutions to soaring prices and rehabilitation of infrastructure.

“The deputies will have to make an exceptional effort to improve the services” to the population, claimed Saturday Oumaya, 25 years old, employed in a dental clinic.

For several months, the economy has been in free fall, with a historic depreciation of the currency. More than 80% of the population lives in poverty, according to the UN.

Specific polling stations have been set up in the different provinces to allow displaced people to vote for candidates from their region of origin.

But the millions of Syrians abroad, the majority of whom are refugees, are not allowed to vote.

20 years ago , Bashar al-Assad, then aged 34 years old, ascended to the highest office after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.

After the three decades of unchallenged power from his father, “Bashar” embodied a hope for change. Twenty years later, his regime is treated as an outcast on the international scene.