Syria regime holds elections in 61% of the country

The Syrian regime will today hold parliamentary elections in areas under its control for the fourth time since March 2011.

The areas controlled by Bashar Al-Assad’s regime constitute only about 61 per cent of the country’s area, while citizens outside Syria will not be given the opportunity to vote.

Elections will not be held in opposition-controlled areas and areas occupied by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to Anadolu news agency reports.

The population of Syria was approximately 22-23 million before 2011 and, according to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 6.6 million people have been displaced inside Syria since then, while 6.8 million were forced to flee the country.

Western countries announced that the elections held in the previous period were not held in a “free and fair” atmosphere because they were not conducted under the supervision of the UN. The Syrian opposition also described the elections as a “theatrical play.”

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