The legislative elections organized Sunday, July 19 in Syria, under the close supervision of the security services, led to the unsurprising victory of the Baath, the party in power, subservient to the Assad clan. This formation and the small parties that gravitate in its orbit, grouped within the National Progressive Front (FNP), won 177 of the 250 seats of the People’s Council, the Syrian Parliament. The participation rate rose to 33%, against 57% during the legislative elections of 2016, a sign of the disinterest of the population, overwhelmed by an economic crisis of unprecedented violence.
These results, communicated by the electoral commission, during a press conference held Tuesday, July 21 in Damascus, comply with the unwritten rule which attributes at least two-thirds of the House to this coalition. In the previous election, the Baath and its satellites had obtained a roughly equivalent score, 187 seats. No member of the so-called “tolerated” opposition, based in Damascus, which does not call for the departure of President Bashar Al-Assad, competed in the elections. The so-called pro-Russian opposition, controlled by the Kremlin, protector of the Syrian regime, had not presented any candidates either.
This consultation did not fail to be qualified as “Masquerade” by the opposition based abroad. “Millions of Syrian voters voted with their feet taking the path of exile and forced displacement caused by the terrorism of Assad and his godfathers, Russia and Iran”, quipped the Syrian National Coalition, the main anti-Assad platform, headquartered in Istanbul. The five million Syrians pushed out of their country by the fighting, the vast majority of whom are fiercely hostile to the authorities in Damascus, were unable to take part in the vote.
“Independents” loyal to the regime
Polling stations had been installed in the former strongholds of the rebellion, reconquered in recent years by pro-government troops, such as Ghouta, the suburbs of Damascus, the eastern part of Aleppo, as well as the region of Deraa, in the southern tip of Syria. But these areas are largely depopulated. Their inhabitants, who have not gone abroad, have often found refuge in the Idlib pocket, the last smallest of the insurgency, in the northwest corner of the country. “Syria has not known free and fair elections since Assad’s Baath party came to power” half a century ago, “And this year’s elections are no exception”, estimated the US State Department.
The new elected representatives from the Baath were chosen in part at the end of an internal consultation, supposed to revitalize a sclerotic party, marginalized since the accession to power of Bashar Al-Assad, in 2000. The other deputies, outside the FNP list , come from a variety of backgrounds, even though they are all pre-diet. Among them are figures from civil society, such as Nabil Elias, head of the charity organization of the oligarch Samer Foz; entrepreneurs linked to the regime, like Hussam Katerji, an oil trader sanctioned by the European Union; and former warlords, converted into politics, such as Bassem Soudan and Fadel Wardeh. Their candidacies had been validated before the ballot by the Baath and the Syrian security apparatus, which ensured the perfect loyalty of these “independents”.
“Blind obedience or exclusion”
This discreet preselection allowed the Syrian regime to dismiss several outgoing deputies, deemed too restless, who were dissuaded from standing for re-election. Among them are the Circassian (a people from the Caucasus) Jeancette Kazan, from Kuneitra, in the Golan Heights, very involved in the defense of the families of “martyrs” and war wounded, as well as the Alawite Nabil Saleh, an ex -communist, famous for his tirades against corruption and war profiteers. Of the 8,735 candidates for the candidacy, only 2,100 had been authorized to compete by the electoral commission, false nose of the moukhabarat (security services).
The conspicuous Fares Shihabi, president of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Industry, who ignored advice suggesting that he not stand for re-election, was not re-elected. This representative of the Alépine business bourgeoisie, at the forefront of the defense of the Assad regime in the international media, readily criticized the new rich, who had appeared thanks to the war, such as Hussam Katerji. “The message is clear: either blind obedience to the growing system of corruption or exclusion and punishment, reacted the unfortunate candidate on his Facebook page. If I had been beaten in transparent and clean elections it would have been different. “
The new Parliament therefore appears to be composed, more than ever, of godillot, opportunist or zealous ideologues deputies, completely committed to Bashar Al-Assad. In the very difficult period that his regime is going through, faced with a collapse of the pound and sanctions of unprecedented severity of the United States (the Caesar law), the Syrian president very probably wanted to ensure his rear. These results point to a one-sided presidential election in 2021, when Bashar Al-Assad puts his mandate on the line.
