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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”.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi left Kabul for China to participate in the third Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation, it was announced Tuesday.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesman for Foreign Ministry, said on X that Muttaqi had received an official invitation from China.
Deputy Minister of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari and a number of other officials of the Islamic Emirate are accompanying Muttaqi in the visit.
Ahmad said that in the meeting, the countries surrounding the Himalayas will discuss economic cooperation, regional connectivity and ecological changes.
He added that the Islamic Emirate delegation will also have a bilateral meetings with the Foreign Minister of China and representatives of other countries on the sidelines of the forum.
Pakistan has decided that all citizens of neighboring Afghanistan will be required to enter the country with a valid passport and visa starting next month, similar to travelers from other countries, VOA reported on Monday.
The “one document regime” policy will replace the decades-old practice of granting special travel permits to individuals with divided tribes straddling the Durand Line.
The “passport as the only traveling document is going to be implemented from November 1, 2023,” according to an official federal directive sent to immigration authorities at all Afghan border crossings.
“No other document shall be accepted to travel from Afghanistan to Pakistan,” the document said.
The Pakistani government has yet to make a formal announcement about the new policy.
VOA cited a senior Pakistani official as saying that Islamabad hopes the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) would cooperate in implementing the “one document regime” decision to help deter illegal crossers, including militants and smugglers.
The IEA did not immediately comment on the new travel requirements.
The new policy comes amid a nationwide crackdown on Afghans living illegally in Pakistan or not renewing their visas.
Last Thursday, Pakistani caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani announced that his government would deport illegal Afghan and other foreign immigrants.
With the emergence of security in Afghanistan, foreign tourists are starting to visit Afghanistan to see its historical sites that have been out of reach for travelers for decades.
A group of tourists visiting Lashkargah in Helmand province were awestruck by the 3,000 year old Qala-e-Bost, which is famous for its 11th century arch. The arch is part of the remains of a mosque.
The group of 11 people from Germany, America, New Zealand and South Africa, included five women, who all welcomed the opportunity to visit the fort and other historical sites in the country.
The tourists said it was a good time for people to visit Afghanistan given that peace has been established.
“Afghanistan is a rich country in terms of minerals, they should work for their people and country, in order to save themselves” from being dependent on other countries, said a tourist from South Africa.
“I am happy that I visited Bost Fort and some other historical areas of this historical province with my friends,” said an American tourist.
At the same time, the head of culture and tourism of the Department of Information and Culture, Mawlavi Sultan Muhammad Hanif, said that since the takeover of the Islamic Emirate, many tourists from different countries have come to this province.
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