Syria votes in local elections as bloody battle looms
First vote since 2011 comes as Russia-backed government forces prepare major assault on Idlib
Syrians in government-controlled areas have voted in the country’s first local elections since 2011, as a major offensive looms in the last rebel stronghold.
State television broadcast footage of voters casting their ballots yesterday in Damascus, Tartus and Latakia, as well as the eastern city Deir Ezzor, recaptured last year from Islamic State.
But no voting took place in areas outside government control, including Kurdish-held parts of the northeast and the northwest Idlib province, the largest remaining rebel-held territory, Al Jazeera reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The country last held local council election in December 2011, just nine months into the conflict.
“I’m optimistic that the incoming council will rebuild and recover the city after the huge destruction suffered by years of fighting,” said one voter from Deir Ezzor.
But a vast majority of the candidates are members of the ruling Baath party or affiliated to it, which “deterred some people from casting their ballot,” the Qatari broadcaster says.
“Why vote? Will anything change? Let's be honest,” said another voter in the capital, who boycotted the poll.
“Everyone knows the results are sealed in advance for a single party, whose members will win in a process that's closer to an appointment than it is to an election,” he added.
The election process is unlikely to be fair, agrees Joshua Clarkson, a risk analyst at Foreign Brief.
Expect President Bashar al-Assad loyalists of the Baath Party to dominate local elections, “giving the president a facade of local support and bolstering his position in the rebuilding process,” he says.
Meanwhile, Russian-backed government forces are preparing a major military offensive to retake Idlib, the last part of the country controlled by rebels.
The assault on a region home to three million civilians is already “shaping up to be the worst of the Syrian war,” says David Gardner, international affairs editor at the Financial Times.
“With Idlib it looks like this conflict — already a catalogue of horror — has saved the worst for last,” he says.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Myanmar: the Spring Revolution and the downfall of the generals
Talking Point An armed protest movement has swept across the country since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in 2021
By The Week Staff Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sudan on brink of collapse after a year of war
Speed Read 18 million people face famine as the country continues its bloody downward spiral
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How powerful is Iran?
Today's big question Islamic republic is facing domestic dissent and 'economic peril' but has a vast military, dangerous allies and a nuclear threat
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US, Israel brace for Iran retaliatory strikes
Speed Read An Iranian attack on Israel is believed to be imminent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How green onions could swing South Korea's election
The Explainer Country's president has fallen foul of the oldest trick in the campaign book, not knowing the price of groceries
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's battle to save Kharkiv from Putin's drones
The Explainer Country's second-largest city has been under almost daily attacks since February amid claims Russia wants to make it uninhabitable
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published