https://arab.news/v5wqv
- Critical vote represents test of all sides during transition process, official says
DAMASCUS: Predominantly Kurdish areas of northeastern Syria held a ballot on Sunday to choose representatives for the country’s transitional parliament, following an agreement this year on integration under central authorities.
In a process that began last year and has been criticized as undemocratic, members of local committees across Syria have been casting ballots to elect members of the assembly, which will have a renewable 30-month mandate.
Syria’s President Ahmad Al-Sharaa is to appoint 70 representatives to the 210-member body.
Local committees — appointed by the electoral commission, which was itself also appointed by Al-Sharaa — have been selecting the other two-thirds.
State news agency SANA said Sunday’s ballot covered seven representatives for parts of Hasakah province, while another two seats in the region were appointed by acclamation after only two people stood.
A ballot was also being held for two seats in Kurdish-majority Kobane, also known as Ain Al-Arab, in Aleppo province.
In January, Damascus and the Kurds agreed to integrate Kurdish civilian and military institutions into the state.
Several Kurdish parties criticized Sunday’s ballot, saying in a statement that the mechanism for forming the legislature was “nothing but an appointment process” and does not reflect the “free Kurdish will.”
They also criticized the fact that only four of the assembly’s 210 seats have been allocated for Kurds and called for this to increase to better reflect the Kurdish population.
There are about 2 million Kurds in Syria, most of them in the northeast.
In October last year, Syria’s electoral commission announced the names of 119 members of the new assembly, out of the 140 members to be chosen through the ballot process.
At that time, seats remained vacant for parts of then Kurdish-held Raqqa and Hasakah provinces in the north and northeast, and the Druze-majority Sweida province in the south, for “security” reasons.
After Sunday’s ballot, only Sweida — which is to have three seats — will remain outside the process.
Syria’s Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections said the completion of voting in the districts of Hasakah, Qamishli, Al-Malikiyah and Ain Al-Arab paves the way for the first session of the new parliament.
Nawar Najmeh, spokesperson for the committee, said that the People’s Assembly would convene after the president announces the names of members appointed to the remaining one-third of the chamber.
Najmeh said voting in Hasakah province and the Ain Al-Arab district in Aleppo province concluded.
He described the vote in Hasakah as a pivotal step in shaping the new Syria and said it reflected the desire among residents to become an active part of a unified national framework.
Najmeh said the elections carried clear political and social dimensions, and represented a serious test of the willingness of all sides to ensure the success of the national project and the transitional phase.
He added that voting took place in a positive atmosphere reflecting strong turnout by members of the electoral bodies in the first genuine electoral process since the victory of the revolution.
Voter participation exceeded 95 percent across all areas by the time polling stations closed, Najmeh said.
Earlier, the committee announced the closure of polling stations in Hasakah and Qamishli, as well as in the Ain Al-Arab district.
It later announced the winners’ names and gave candidates 48 hours to file appeals.