Syria's new political landscape - UPDATES

[Anthea]

Syria to elect new parliament in August

A committee tasked with electing Syria’s new parliament expects the vote will take place in August, a Kurdish member of the committee told Rudaw on Friday

"We are now at the stage of visiting Syrian provinces where we are holding meetings with activists, sociologists, politicians, and academics from each province as public gatherings. This is to draft the temporary system for electing People's Assembly members as our program continues. We hope these elections will take place at the end of August," said Mohammed Wali.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa established an 11-member Higher Committee for the Elections of the People's Assembly on June 2 and instructed it to form provincial committees that will be responsible for electing suitable representatives for the assembly.

The vote will not be open to the public. Wali said 70 percent of the members of the assembly will be experts and intellectuals while the rest will be notables and dignitaries. One third of the members will be directly chosen by Sharaa.

Kurds, who had been deprived of Syrian citizenship for decades, are eligible to become candidates, but people who were granted citizenship after the eruption of the civil war in 2011 are not eligible because of fears that ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad granted citizenship to many Iranian militants, explained Wali.

It remains unclear whether the elections will be held in the Kurdish-held northeast (Rojava). Wali said this is linked to political developments. The Rojava administration is in talks with Damascus about integrating into national institutions.

Following a swift offensive, a coalition of opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - headed by Sharaa - toppled the regime of Assad on December 8. The new Syrian leadership in late January disbanded the army, dissolved the parliament and annulled the constitution.

Sharaa has pledged "free and fair" elections

The interim constitution adopted by Sharaa’s government sets out a five-year transition period that gives the president executive authority and the People’s Assembly control over legislation.

The following is the full transcript of the interview with Wali:

Rudaw: Has the official date of the People's Assembly elections been set?

Mohammed Wali: We are now at the stage of visiting Syrian provinces where we are holding meetings with activists, sociologists, politicians, and academics from each province as public gatherings. This is to draft the temporary system for electing People's Assembly members as our program continues. We hope these elections will take place at the end of August.

Rudaw Will the elections be held on one day across all provinces, or will each district and province hold elections on different days?

Mohammed Wali The People's Assembly elections will take place across all of Syria on one day.

Rudaw Will elections also be held in the Autonomous Administration [Western Kurdistan] areas?

Mohammed Wali Hasaka province, Raqqa province - these are still in our program. We have visited five or six provinces and in the coming days we will go to other provinces. All Syrian provinces, all their people, all their communities, all their components will participate in these elections. In this transitional phase, the electoral system is not direct because of the special situation Syria is going through. There's no possibility for direct elections. As we announced in our meetings with governors, activists, sociologists, and provincial experts, this parliament will be established with two groups: the group of experts and the group of notable community figures. That's why we've set a suitable time frame to try to reach everyone, because this is everyone's right.

Rudaw Will you go to the Autonomous Administration areas?

Mohammed Wali You know there's an agreement between the Syrian state and the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces]. In the coming weeks, if something emerges, if political progress is made... This matter is being discussed within the Higher Committee for the elections of the People’s Assembly, it's under consultation. We hope our people, our community will have this right and their representation so we can establish a legislative assembly for the new Syria, a Syria that is a state of law, not the Syria that the [Bashar] Assad regime ruled. The state was tied to laws serving the Assad family and gangs. That's why we're working hard in this transitional phase. We're heading toward a lawful state, which is why Syria needs an assembly that enacts laws serving all Syrian people, with all their components and all citizens, where these laws guarantee freedom and dignity for all citizens.

Rudaw If that's not possible - if you can't go to the Autonomous Administration areas or hold elections there - what would be the alternative solution to ensure their representation in this parliament? What is the mechanism?

Mohammed Wali As we recently announced, we went to some provinces and in the coming days we'll go to the remaining provinces. We're preparing the draft of the temporary electoral system. We're gathering opinions from Syrian citizens, activists, politicians, and academics from society, and we're discussing how to ensure this temporary system serves an election that guarantees representation of the Syrian people with all their components in this People's Assembly.

As we announced, political matters will be consulted with the Syrian presidency. We'll see in the coming days. All provincial people have rights that will be guaranteed. Experts or community notables, social dignitaries who become candidates and enter this mechanism we're preparing, who become members of branch committees or electoral candidates - for each province according to statistics, particularly 2010 statistics, each city or area will have members according to conditions and requirements to be included in this system, to be recognized to ensure everyone's representation. Therefore, this system we're looking at is a district-based system. Districts tied to cities... Each province has several areas, each area produces several members of parliament...

Rudaw But Mr. Mohammed, you know and I know that the 2010 census was before the Syrian civil war began. Many changes have occurred in cities, in population numbers, a large portion of people were displaced and became refugees. Will they also have the right to vote?

Mohammed Wali Because we're in this transitional phase, eight million Syrians have become displaced and refugees inside Syria. They are not on their land, not in their civil registry, they're in countries neighboring Syria, scattered around the world. That's why this system is not direct. It was designed so we can properly and clearly have an assembly that represents the Syrian people. The main goal of this assembly is to free Syrians from the laws that the collapsed regime had imposed, that kept the Syrian state backward and served a gang while opposing its own citizens. In this coming assembly, the assembly's duty is to enact laws that serve Syrian citizens and ensure Syria's strength. That's why we announced the People's Assembly will have two groups, according to Syrian presidential decree number 66 that was issued: 70 percent will be the group of social experts and the second group of 30 percent will be community notables or social dignitaries.

Rudaw What are the criteria and requirements for someone to become a member of the People's Assembly?

Mohammed Wali As a start, according to some conditions and requirements we've set based on our visits, the person who becomes an electoral candidate must meet these conditions and requirements. One of these conditions is that they must be a Syrian citizen. It is okay to have a second citizenship because as you know the Syrian regime forced many people to leave the country and seek other citizenship. First, they must be Syrian citizens. Secondly, they must be over 25 years old, they must not have criminal convictions except for security or political convictions, because the collapsed Assad regime convicted millions of people on political or security grounds. The person who becomes a candidate must not be a governor, minister, or their deputies, and must not be members of the Syrian army or security personnel. Their reputation and character in society must be good.

Rudaw Will you consider the condition of Kurds who were deprived of Syrian citizenship for decades, but later obtained it?

Mohammed Wali As I said before, in the committee, we discussed this. The Syrians who were deprived of Syrian citizenship by the Assad regime are eligible to become candidates. Syrians and Kurds who obtained citizenship before May 2011 are eligible to become candidates. The reason we are focusing on that date is that the ousted regime of Assad had granted Iranian and sectarian militias citizenship [after May 2011]. This caused demographic change. Therefore, we at the committee said that people who were citizens of Syria before 2011 can become candidates.

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