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.
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.
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.
-
Is New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s plan for free buses realistic?Talking Points A transit innovation or a costly mistake
-
5 side hustle ideas to supplement your budgetthe explainer Almost two-thirds of Americans are looking to get a second job in the next year
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified filesSpeed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
Inside Syria’s al-Hol campUnder the radar Aid cuts mean authorities face ‘uphill struggle’ to maintain security
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Rubio says US brokered end to Syria conflictSpeed Read Syria's defense ministry was targeted in Israeli attacks on the capital
-
Syria's returning refugeesThe Explainer Thousands of Syrian refugees are going back to their homeland but conditions there remain extremely challenging
