Damascus, Syria – Chairman of the Election Commission, Mohammed Al-Ahmad, confirmed that the electoral process is proceeding smoothly.
He also added, “There are ambassadors who were briefed on the progress of the vote”.
This comes with the start of the voting process for the new Syrian People’s Assembly. It is happening for the first time after the fall of the previous regime.
Seats in Sweida, Raqqa and Hasakah are “vacant”
He also stressed that the door is open to any international supervision of the vote.
For his part, member of the Supreme Elections Committee and its media spokesman, Nawar Najma, announced that the elections began at 9 (local time) on time.
He stressed that “the seats in Sweida, Raqqa and Hasakah will remain vacant.”
Later, the committee announced the start of vote counting in Al-Sanamayn in Daraa, Baniyas, Tartous, and Qusayr.
30 months.. Mandate of the New People’s Assembly
It is noteworthy that Parliament will be formed, and its term will be thirty months, subject to renewal.
This is based on a mechanism specified in the Constitutional Declaration, and not through direct elections by the people.
Under this mechanism, regional bodies formed by a higher committee will elect two-thirds of the Council’s 210 members. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will appoint the remaining third.
1,578 candidates, only 14 percent of whom are women, are competing to win council seats. This is according to the Supreme Elections Committee.
Among them is Syrian-American Henry Hamra, the son of the last rabbi to leave Syria in the 1990s.
He is the first candidate for the Jewish community in nearly seven decades.
Last August, the Supreme Elections Committee announced the postponement of selecting council members in the governorates of Sweida. Also in Raqqa (north) and Hasakah (northeast) due to “security challenges.”
Note that last September, sub-election committees were formed in some areas of Raqqa and Hasakah.
