Syrian parliamentary election, 2016

Syrian parliamentary election, 2016

13 April 2016

All 250 seats to the Parliament of Syria 126 seats are needed for a majority   First party   Leader Bashar Al-Assad Party Ba'ath Party Alliance National Progressive Front Last election 168 Seats won 200 Seat change 32

Speaker before election Mohammad Jihad al-Laham Ba'ath Party Elected Speaker Hadiya Khalaf Abbas[1] Ba'ath Party

2012 Election results:
     National Progressive Front
     Popular Front for Change and Liberation
     Non-partisans

Parliamentary elections were held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016.^[2] Syria's parliamentary elections occur every four years, with the last in 2012, while presidential elections are done every seven years, wither the last in 2014. The current parliamentary term ends in 2020, which is consequently the planned date for the next parliamentary election.

Background

Amidst nearly five years of civil war and ensuing negotiations for a ceasefire, following the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War and Syrian Arab Army gains, President Bashar al-Assad called the election.

Al-Raqqah Governorate is mostly occupied by ISIL as their de facto capital, while Deir ez-Zor Governorate is partly occupied but the Syrian government has made recent gains there. Other places such as Aleppo, Homs and Latakia, amongst others, are also partly occupied but Syrian forces have started successfully pushing back. Rojava has also been semi-autonomous since the civil war began with Kurdish forces currently in fighting ISIL with the support of Russia, by air, and Syrian forces, on the ground.

Electoral system

All 250 members of the People's Council were elected from 15 multi-member constituencies.^[3]

Constituency	Seats	Population (est. 2011)[4][5]
Damascus Governorate	29	1,754,000
Rif Dimashq Governorate	19	2,836,000
Aleppo (city)	20	2,132,100
Aleppo Governorate	32	2,735,900
Homs Governorate	23	1,803,000
Hama Governorate	22	1,628,000
Latakia Governorate	17	1,008,000
Idlib Governorate	18	1,501,000
Tartus Governorate	13	797,000
Al-Raqqah Governorate	8	944,000
Deir ez-Zor Governorate	14	1,239,000
Al-Hasakah Governorate	14	1,512,000
Daraa Governorate	10	1,027,000
As-Suwayda Governorate	6	370,000
Quneitra Governorate	5	90,000
Total	250	21,377,000

Results

The Ba'ath Party-led National Progressive Front won 200 of the 250 seats, while the opposition inside and outside the country boycotted the elections; voter turnout was 57.56%. Two Armenians were elected to the People's Council, with a female Armenian candidate elected for the first time.^[6]

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
National Progressive Front			200	+32
Others			50	–
Invalid/blank votes		–	–	–
Total	5,085,444		250	0
Registered voters/turnout	8,834,994	57.56	–	–
Source: IPU

Reactions

•  Germany - Martin Schaefer, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry has announced that Germany would not accept the results of the election. He stated that "holding free and fair elections is simply impossible in the current situation, with all the refugees, in a full civil war situation."^[7]
•  United States - John Kirby, spokesman for the United States Department of State has announced that the United States believes the elections to not be credible, fair or free. He cited the departure of many citizens as a result of the Syrian Civil War.^[8]

References

1. "Syrian Parliament to Be Headed by Woman for First Time in History". Sputnik International.
2. "Polling Stations Closed in All of Syria's Provinces – Elections Committee". Sputnik International.
3. President Assad calls for parliamentary elections next April AMN, 22 February 2016
4. "Population estimates on 31 December 2011" (in Arabic). Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
5. "2004 census data" (in Arabic). Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
6. Hairenik. "Two Armenians Elected to Syria's Parliament". Armenian Weekly.
7. "The Latest: Syrian opposition in Geneva lashes out at Assad". The Chronicle Herald.
8. http://www.turkishweekly.net/2016/04/15/news/Syrian-elections-not-credible-or-fair-with-assad-us/