The Atlantic Council is publishing a series of reports on the flaws and shortcomings of the parliamentarian elections in Syria. In the first article, researchers Vladimir Pran and Maroun Sfeir argue that the upcoming Syrian elections, scheduled for July 15, have sparked a closer examination of the country’s electoral system. A series of articles will delve into the key elements of the Syrian elections, focusing on the system of representation, electoral districts, and the challenges of electoral reform.
Unequal Representation
The report explains that the current system ensures three outcomes:
Overrepresentation of regime strongholds: The allocation of seats to governorates is decided by the president, without consideration for demographic changes since 2011. This results in disproportional representation, favoring voters in Quneitra, Latakia, Tartus, and Damascus governorates.
Manipulation of candidates: A quota system reserves seats for workers and farmers, but lacks clear criteria, allowing for manipulation and limiting competition.
Prevention of effective multi-party competition: The block vote system, used only in Syria, discourages political party competition and fragments the opposition.
Key Issues
The researchers list a set of key issues:
Lack of criteria for seat allocation: The president decides the number of seats for each governorate, without consideration for population changes.
Disproportional representation: Voters in some governorates have more representation than others, contrary to international electoral standards.
Quota system limitations: The quota for farmers and workers lacks clear criteria, and there is no quota for women, leading to underrepresentation.
Block vote system: This system, used only in Syria, favors the ruling party and discourages political party competition.
In general, the report finds out that the Syrian electoral system is designed to maintain the Baath Party’s power and limit opposition. Reforming the system is crucial for ensuring equal representation and genuine political competition. The upcoming articles in this series will explore the challenges and possibilities for electoral reform in Syria.
Sweden contributes Two Million Krona to support OPCW missions in Syria
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced that Government of the Kingdom of Sweden had voluntarily contributed SEK 2,000,000 to the Trust Fund for the OPCW Syria Missions.
The contribution was formalized on 20 June 2024 in a signing ceremony held between the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, and the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Sweden to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Johannes Oljelund, at the OPCW’s Headquarters in The Hague.
The contribution will support the full elimination of the Syrian Chemical Weapons Programme, as well as to establish facts surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, relevant decisions of the policy-making organs of the OPCW and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
Kyrgyzstan repatriated more than 600 people from Syria and Iraq
Kyrgyzstan returned more than 600 Kyrgyzstanis from Syria and Iraq, said Secretary of Security Council Marat Imankulov, Akipress.com reported.
“Around 800 Kyrgyzstanis were in Syria together with their families. Some of them died, some fled, while some remain in prisons of Syria and Iraq. We were forced to repatriate their wives and children. Around 60 Kyrgyzstanis are left in camps,” he said.
Psychologists, representatives of Labor Ministry, Health Ministry, religious organizations, theologians, and others worked with those returned. They are in rehabilitation.
“It was a presidential order, which I support. All state bodies were involved in the repatriation operation. They are our fellow citizens, whether they are good or bad. What’s the fault of children? Who, if not the state, will take care of them?” he said.
Half a million cows: A project to electronically tag female cattle in Syria
Enab Baladi reported that the Ministry of Agriculture in the Syrian regime’s government announced the initiation of an electronic tagging process for female cattle during the last three months of the current year.
On Sunday, June 23rd, the Ministry’s Director of Animal Production, Mohammad Khair al-Lahham, stated that the electronic tagging of the female cattle herd would begin in the last quarter of the current year. Each cow in all governorates will receive a unique electronic number without repetition, after completing all the necessary requirements for the tagging process, including numbers, tags, and electronic readers.
According to al-Lahham, the tagging process aims to obtain accurate numbers of the cattle herd, build a national register, identify and resolve problems, contribute to strategies for developing the herd, monitor its performance, identify investment opportunities, determine its actual needs for production essentials, and ensure fairness in providing various services, especially feed and veterinary vaccines.
The number of cattle in regime-controlled areas reached about 574,550 head, according to last year’s Ministry of Agriculture statistics.
US admits child recruitment by its partner PKK terrorist group
A report by the U.S. State Department released on Monday highlights how U.S. partners in northeastern Syria affiliated with the the US allies, Syrian democratic Forces (SDF) continue to recruit children.
“The SDF continued to implement the UNSCR-mandated action plan to end the recruitment and use of children and demobilize children in SDF ranks; however, an international organization reported SDF-affiliated armed groups recruited and used children in 2022 and 2023,” said the report. It accuses the YDG-H of recruiting children into the radical Kurdish youth organization through fraudulent announcements for educational courses in northeast Syria.
“Observers report these children have undergone military training in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq,” the report stated.
Last month, a U.N. report revealed that the SDF and affiliated structures forcibly integrated 231 children into their armed ranks in 2023 in Syria.
The U.S. Army frequently provides military training and supplies to members of the terrorist group in bases in Syria located in the Mount Abdulaziz region of Hassakeh, as well as in the eastern al-Omar oil field and Conoco area of Deir el-Zour province, all regions occupied by the terrorists, which Washington calls its “partner forces.” Last August, it deployed more reinforcements to U.S. bases in the region as a convoy of nearly 50 trucks, tankers and armored trucks delivered fuel, weapons and ammunition to the U.S. forces stationed at the natural gas and al-Omer oil fields.
Locals in Syria’s Suwaida pin hopes on last peace effort
Unprecedented clashes erupted early in the week in Suwayda Governorate, southern Syria, between local armed groups and the Syrian government forces, as these skirmishes involved using rifles and besieging the government checkpoints in the area, North Press reported.
The clashes began after the locals protested the establishment of new security checkpoint by the government forces near al-Anqoud Roundabout in the city of Suwayda.
The confrontations resulted in the injury of a militant of an armed local group and several security personnel of the government forces.
A local source in an armed local group told North Press that they (the group) had given the government forces a new deadline to remove the checkpoint of the al-Anqoud Roundabout.
The source added that the truce was reached after mediation by local residents to give the government personnel of the checkpoint an opportunity to withdraw and to abandon establishing further checkpoints within Suwayda.
The recent clashes that took place on June 23 resulted in casualties among the government forces that were stationed in Ba’ath Party headquarters, as the armed groups targeted the headquarters using shells.
North Press obtained classified information indicates that the government’s intention of installing checkpoint of the al-Anqoud Roundabout was to pursue “wanted individuals” and opponents of the government forces in the area.
The website of Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic reported that seven members of the government forces were killed in clashes with armed groups in Suwayda, a claim denied by Suwayda residents.
The government forces accused Suwayda protestors of being directed and incited by external parties against them, denying the legitimacy of their demands despite their nearly year-long protests for better living conditions and toppling “Assad regime.”
