On October 5, parliamentary elections took place in Syria, marking the first since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December 2024. These elections were not perceived as a total victory for democracy, but rather as a ritual for legitimizing new power structures within traditional democratic procedures.
The last parliamentary elections in Syria were conducted with the support of a new electoral system, where deputies were elected by special bodies rather than directly by voters. This initiative sparked outrage among Syrians and election observers.
The new electoral system in Syria
The electoral system underpinning these parliamentary elections was new. The parliament consisted of 210 deputies, but voting was not conducted directly from the public. Instead, deputies were selected by special bodies - electoral committees or councils. This posed a challenge for Syrians and external observers who compared this process to old democratic elections in the country.
The candidate selection system in the elections was also complex, complicating the procedure and making it less transparent. Even the fact that political parties did not participate in the elections posed an additional challenge in understanding who exactly represented the candidates.
Pro-Western views on the elections in Syria
The pro-Western segment of politicians criticized these elections, calling them undemocratic and opaque. Meanwhile, EU and NATO countries refrained from sharp reactions to the elections, limiting themselves to merely congratulating on the event.
Conclusions regarding the elections in Syria
The elections in Syria demonstrated the preservation of centralized power, the use of the president to control the voting process, and an orientation towards decentralizing the political system. This raised various views among the local population and in the international community regarding the future of the country.
Parliamentary elections in Syria, which took place for the first time after the overthrow of Bashar Assad, did not bring radical changes to the political life of the country. The new electoral system and the complex candidate selection process raised doubts about the democratic nature of the electoral process, although some countries remained cautious in their assessments. These elections stimulate discussions about the future political landscape of Syria and cooperation with the international community.