Syrians were voting on Monday in the country’s first “multiparty” parliamentary election in five decades, being held against a backdrop of violence and dismissed as a sham by the opposition.
Young and old cast their ballots in neighbourhoods of the capital and various other regions, while in opposition strongholds residents boycotted the vote, instead holding protests and a general strike. The election was being held despite unrest that has swept the country since March 2011 when President Bashar al-Assad resorted to force in a bid to quash a revolt against his autocratic regime. The vote, initially scheduled for last September, was postponed to May 7 after Assad announced the launch of a reform process backed by a referendum. “I think these elections will bring a definitive end to the crisis,” said Shahba Karim, 18, after casting her vote in central Damascus. But others held a different view. “I voted no in the constitutional referendum but this time I won’t cast a ballot because by doing so it would mean I agree with the process which is not the case,” said Fady, a 47-year-old media worker.
A total of 7,195 candidates have registered to stand for the 250 seats, state news agency SANA said. The opposition has dismissed the vote as a sham and a ploy by the government to buy time and to dupe the international community into believing the regime is serious about reforms. “Whoever drowns Syria in blood, displaces … Syrians and shoots at the Syrian people does not have the legitimacy to draw up a constitution, an electoral law, or to run elections,” the Syrian National Council, an exile umbrella opposition organisation, said in a statement.
Several towns and villages across the country, including some neighbourhoods of Damascus, held demonstrations, boycotted the vote and organised a general strike amid reports of continued violence. Three people were killed in an ambush by regime forces in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Clashes between soldiers and rebels were also reported in several areas of central Hama province as well as other regions, the Britain-based watchdog added.
“There are no signs of a national election in (northwest) Idlib or the surrounding areas,” activist Nureddin al-Abdo told AFP via Skype. “The regime is trying to delude itself that it still holds power by organising these fake elections, but it is only capable of ruling with tanks.” Another activist, Shakeeb al-Jabri, tweeted: “Let me put it this way: Syrians were more interested in the French elections (on Sunday) than they are in their own elections”.
