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Syrians vote for new parliament amid war, economic turmoil
Syrians go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament as the Damascus government grapples with international sanctions and a crumbling economy after retaking large parts of the war-torn country.
More than 7,400 polling stations will open at 7.30 am in government-held parts of Syria, including for the first time in former opposition strongholds, AFP reported.
President Bashar al-Assad’s Baath party and its allies are expected to take most of parliament’s 250 seats in the third such polls to be held since the war started nine years ago.
On the eve of the polls, one person was killed and another wounded in two blasts in Damascus, state news agency SANA said.
Several lists were allowed to run across the country but any real opposition is absent, and the ruling Baath party is expected to retain its hegemony.
Portraits of the contenders have been displayed across the capital for weeks, with the 1,658 candidates including several prominent businessmen.
The elections, twice postponed from April due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, come at a time when most Syrians are worried about the soaring cost of living.
Many candidates are running on programs pledging to tackle inflation and improve infrastructure ravaged by the conflict.
“Lawmakers are going to have to make exceptional efforts to improve services,” said Umaya, a 31-year-old woman who works in a dentist’s practice.
Millions of Syrians living abroad, after fleeing a war that has killed more than 380,000 people, are not eligible to vote.
But for the first time, voting will take place in territory retaken by the government, including in the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus and in the south of Idlib province in the country’s northwest.
After a string of military victories backed by key ally Russia, the government is back in control of around 70 percent of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
In the last polls in 2016, turnout stood at 57 percent.
This year’s vote comes as Damascus struggles to redress an economy battered by nine years of war, Western sanctions, and the fallout of a financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon.
Food prices in Syria have shot up by more than 200 percent in the past year and now stand at 20 times their pre-war levels, the World Food Programme says.
In a country where more than 80 percent of people already live in poverty, the UN food agency has warned that Syrians are now facing an “unprecedented hunger crisis”.
The elections also come as Assad marked a second decade in power this month, and weeks after the United States imposed new sanctions on Syria including on the president’s wife.
The next presidential polls are expected in 2021, and candidates will need the written approval of at least 35 members of parliament.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem last month said Assad would remain in power “as long as the Syrians want him to stay”.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, has urged the countries in the region and around the world to soften and expand their economic relations with the Islamic Emirate instead of imposing sanctions and undue pressure.
In a statement issued by the deputy PMs office, Baradar made these remarks on Saturday during a speech at the inauguration ceremony of a commercial market in Balkh province.
Baradar added that a prosperous and strong Afghanistan is not to the detriment of other countries in the region; rather, it contributes to the welfare and strengthening of other nations.
He said: “The Islamic Emirate believes in comprehensive economic and political authenticity in the field of regional and international cooperation, provided that there is mutual respect for major values and fundamental principles.”
He stated that IEA’s engagement with the private sector in large-scale and long-term projects—based on public-private partnerships or other types of contracts—conveys a clear message that the environment for domestic and foreign investment in Afghanistan is favorable, and that anyone can take advantage of this opportunity.
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Karzai urges reopening of girls’ schools and universities for Afghanistan’s bright future
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai says knowledge and education are the primary pillars of progress and dignity in any society.
In a post marking the end of the academic year and the preparation of 12th-grade graduates for the Kankor (university entrance) exam, Karzai said on Saturday that Afghanistan needs hundreds of thousands of female and male doctors, engineers, economists, technology specialists, and experts in other fields to become self-reliant.
He called on all students to make greater efforts and to reach higher levels in scientific and social sciences.
He once again emphasized: “I hope that, for a bright future for Afghanistan, girls’ schools and universities should be reopened so that our daughters can stand on their own feet and become worthy of serving the country.”
Pakistan on Friday summoned Afghan Deputy Head of Mission in Islamabad to convey “strong demarche” over a deadly attack on a military camp in North Waziristan District that killed four Pakistani soldiers.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attack was carried out by a faction of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The statement said that Pakistan conveyed “grave concern over the continued support and facilitation” provided by the Islamic Emirate to TTP.
Pakistan has demanded “a full investigation and decisive action against the perpetrators and facilitators of the terrorist attacks launched against Pakistan from Afghan soil.”
It urged the Islamic Emirate “to take immediate, concrete and verifiable measures against all terror groups operating from its territory, including their leadership, and deny the continued use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan.
According to the statement, the Islamic Emirate has been “categorically informed that Pakistan reserves the right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens, and will take all necessary measures to respond to terrorism originating from Afghan soil.”
Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that attacks in the country are originated from Afghan soil, a charge the Islamic Emirate denies.
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