Syrian vote for new parliament
Syrians voted for a second day today in tightly-controlled parliamentary elections that have been marred by opposition cries of farce and an apparent low turnout.
State newspapers claimed there was “massive participation” and “fierce competition” in yesterday’s polling, the first of the two-day election, but they provided no figures for voter turnout.
The government reserves the majority of seats in the 250-seat parliament for candidates from the ruling coalition. But Syria hopes the election will soften its authoritarian image and perhaps ease its international isolation.
Opposition leaders called for a boycott, saying the results were known in advance, and that Syria needed an election law that provided for free and fair polling. Some government critics said the boycott campaign was responsible for the vote being even lower than usual.
Voting ends at noon Irish time today, and results are not expected before Wednesday.
The election is the second since President Bashar Assad took over after the death of his father, Hafez Assad, in 2000. Many had high hopes at the beginning of Bashar’s term, when pro-democracy activists were given a measure of freedom. But his regime failed to enact political reform and quickly clamped down on opponents.
Still, in the Arab world, where some countries do not have elections and others vote for bodies with very limited power, Syria’s parliamentary elections and the tolerance of government critics mark a significant stride from the country’s totalitarian past.
