General election in Syria 2012
The 2012 election to the People's Council in Syria took place on May 7, 2012. It followed the adoption of a new constitution in a referendum on February 26th .
background
The elections were originally supposed to take place in May 2011 and were initially postponed to February 2012. Due to the Syrian civil war from 2011 and the constitutional referendum , the elections have again been postponed to the current date. The legislative period of the 250-seat parliament expired last March, but was further extended in line with the country's new constitution. A few days before the date was announced, Ambassador for Peace Kofi Annan said that he was expecting a response to specific proposals that he had made to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in two rounds of talks. The timing of the vote was announced on the day the Syrian government units launched a new assault on rebel strongholds in the north-west of the country.
regulate
The May 7 elections were the first to follow the draft of the new constitution for political pluralism . This repeals the clause drawn up by the president's father and predecessor, Hafiz al-Assad , which stated that Assad's ruling Ba'ath party had the leading role in the state and society. Under the new constitution, a party may not be founded on a religious , regional, denominational, professional or tribal basis, nor be an offshoot or ally of a non-Syrian party or political organization. This means that the Muslim Brotherhood , which is banned in Syria, or Kurdish parties that strive for regional autonomy are excluded from the election.
In July 2011, the Syrian cabinet approved a general election bill as part of the government's reform program to bring the months of turmoil to an end. The draft law establishes the establishment of the Supreme Election Commission to lead the electoral process.
choice
As the fighting in Syria continued, questions arose about the organization of the election, as rebels and government troops were fighting in the cities of Homs , Hama , Daraa and the northern province of Idlib . On the day the election was announced, Melhem al-Droubi , a member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the Syrian National Council , stated that they would “naturally” boycott the elections as the outcome of the election would be fixed. But this is not the focus of their interest. What they want is real change with a real presidential election that Assad would certainly lose.
On March 26, 2012, the state-owned news agency SANA reported that the Syrian parliament asked President Bashar al-Assad to consider postponing the election date so that the overarching reforms are consolidated and to wait for the outcome of the extensive national dialogue and the can strengthen approved parties in the light of the new party law.
The largest opposition group that participated was the Popular Front for Change and Freedom , which had 45 candidates, including 6 in the Damascus Governorate, and was led by Qadri Jamil . The Popular Front brought Jamil's unlicensed People's Will Party together with the Social Nationalist Party , which was tolerated within Assad's Ba'ath Party-led National Progressive Front .
Result
The distribution of seats is shown below:
| Parties | Seats | Inside | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Progressive Front | 168 | |||
| 134 | ||||
|
18th | |||
|
8th | |||
|
3 | |||
|
3 | |||
| 2 | ||||
| Popular Front for Change and Freedom | 5 | |||
| 4th | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| Independent | 77 | |||
| Total (turnout 51.26%) | 250 | |||
| Source: | ||||
After the election, Mohammad Jihad al-Lahham was appointed Speaker of Parliament and Riyadh Farid Hejab was appointed Prime Minister. The two opposition leaders Qadri Jamil and Ali Haidar were also accepted into the government.
Individual evidence
- ↑ New Cabinet, Old Faces ( Memento from June 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Syria parliament election 90 days after new constitution. In: Reuters . February 15, 2012, accessed February 15, 2012 .
- ^ Syria postpones parliamentarian elections: report. In: People's Daily Online. July 8, 2011, accessed February 27, 2012 .
- ^ "Syria's Assad orders parliamentary elections on May 7", Xinhua
- ^ "Assad sets date for parliamentary elections as Annan awaits response", Middle East Online
- ^ "Syria Sets May 7 as Parliamentary Polls Date", RIA Novosti
- ^ Reuters : "Assad announces Syria parliamentary poll date", World Bulletin
- ^ "Syrian Parliament Calls on Assad to Postpone Elections", RIA Novosti, March 26, 2012.
- ↑ "People's Assembly Appeals to the President for Delaying Legislative Elections until Comprehensive Reforms Consolidated", SANA, March 26, 2012. ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ "Syrian Parliament urges Assad deferral of May 7 elections", AGI.it, March 26, 2012. ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ "Assad asked to postpone elections", Voice of Russia, March 26, 2012. ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Syrian Parliamentary Elections: Cynicism Wins The Day ( Memento of the original dated August 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , al Akhbar , May 7, 2012
- ↑ Syrian Parliament ( Memento of the original from October 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
