Syria Holds Pioneering Voting After Assad, However Not Provinces Are Involved.
Syria is preparing to hold its first legislative polls on the upcoming Sunday since the ouster of the ex-leader, amidst worries over representation and repeated postponements.
There will be no direct vote for the People's Assembly, which will be tasked with lawmaking during a interim phase.
Alternatively, referred to as "voting bodies" will appoint representatives for two-thirds of the available spots. Acting President the current head of state will designate the remaining.
Ex- President Assad was removed by interim government forces 10 months ago following a 13-year internal conflict.
Authorities state they have delayed the votes for security reasons in regions under Kurdish authority and a third region which witnessed lethal clashes between state troops and community armed groups.
These conflicts, in July, signified the newest outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria since the former president's removal.
In a address at the international forum last week - the first by a Syrian leader in a long time - the interim leader committed to prosecute all those responsible for the conflict, as well as those who committed atrocities during the previous government.
He also pledged that Syria was now "rebuilding itself through forming a fresh government, building organizations and rules that guarantee the entitlements of all equally."
This weekend's voting are being supervised by the Leading Body for the national parliamentary polls, whose committee members were selected by the interim leader in the summer.
The number of spots allocated in every one of voting regions is calculated from population statistics compiled in the year 2010 - the period preceding the nation entered a domestic war that killed a significant number of citizens and displaced another 12 million.
The postponement of the polls in the specific areas - the named districts - implies the selection committees in only 50 out of 60 districts will be electing delegates for a set number of spots on Sunday.
There will be over 1,500 contenders, who must also be committee participants. Advocates of "the ex-administration or terrorist organisations" were barred from participation, as were supporters of "separatism, fragmentation or external interference."
A minimum of 20% of the committee delegates were required to be women. But there were no minimum quotas for female lawmakers, or for those from the nation's diverse minority communities.
The head of state will select delegates for 70 seats from excluding the selection committees.
Recently, a coalition of organizations raised alarms that this meant he would have significant control over the assembly's makeup.
"This arrangement makes the legislature prone to political influences not reflecting the public's choice and compromises its intended accountable role, allowing the executive authority to overshadow an institution that should be independent and aligned with the citizens' views," a joint statement alerted.
They also claimed the head of state's explicit and implicit control over the Leading Group and the electoral colleges rendered the polls "largely ceremonial, lacking their democratic purpose of securing representation and accountability."
Sharaa has defended the way the polls are being held. "As a transitional period, there is a challenge to organize general polls due to the lack of records, and a significant portion of the population is outside Syria, also without documents," he stated in a broadcast discussion, referring to the numerous refugees who have not returned.
The Leading Group stated it was not possible to hold polls in these provinces because of the "security and political situation." The allocated spots allocated to them will remain vacant up to the point votes can occur.
Raqqa and Hassakeh are mostly governed by a Kurdish-led militia alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is in a deadlock with the interim government over the implementation of a recent deal to integrate each military and civilian institutions into the nation.
A representative of the PYD stated the voting procedure and delay showed the government had the same approach "similar to the ex-government's stance."
"We observe marginalization and rejection of the rights of the population, such as votes. Therefore, the current administration fails to reflect the choice of the citizens," she told media outlets.
The administration furthermore exercises minimal control in the province, where tensions with the Druze-majority residents have continued since the sectarian violence there recently.
The violence broke out when local Druze forces clashed with local clans, which caused the state to deploy troops to get involved. A significant number were killed in the violence, largely Druze individuals, according to monitoring groups.
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