Parliamentary elections were held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016, electing members for the 2016–2020 parliamentary term.

Background

Amidst nearly five years of civil war and ensuing negotiations for a ceasefire, following the

Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the military intervention against ISIL , image = , image_size = , border = , caption = To ...

and

Syrian Arab Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six-D ...

gains, President Bashar al-Assad called the election. At the time of the election, Idlib Governorate was almost entirely outside government control, as it was controlled by rebels.

Raqqa Governorate Raqqa Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة الرقة, Muḥāfaẓat ar-Raqqah) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in the north of the country and covers an area of 19,618 km2. The capital is Raqqa. The Islamic State ...

and Deir ez-Zor Governorate were mostly occupied by

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. As such, elections did not take place in these provinces. Parts of Aleppo, Homs, and

Daraa Daraa ( ar, دَرْعَا, Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: , also Darʿā, Dara’a, Deraa, Dera'a, Dera, Derʿā and Edrei; means "''fortress''", compare Dura-Europos) is a city in southwestern Syria, located about north of the border with Jord ...

governorates were also held by anti-government forces at the time of the election.

Rojava The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, ...

had also been semi-autonomous since the civil war began.

Electoral system

All 250 members of the People's Council were elected from 15 multi-member constituencies in general tickets.

Results

The Ba'ath Party-led National Progressive Front won 200 of the 250 seats, while the opposition inside and outside the country boycotted the elections; voter turnout was 57.56%. Two

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

were elected to the People's Council.

Reactions

* – Martin Schaefer, spokesman for the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

has announced that

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

would not accept the results of the election. He stated that "holding free and fair elections is simply impossible in the current situation, with all the refugees, in a full civil war situation." * – John Kirby, spokesman for the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

has announced that the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

believes the elections to not be credible, fair or free. He cited the departure of many citizens as a result of the Syrian Civil War.

References

{{Syrian Civil War 2016 in the Syrian civil war Parliamentary elections in Syria Syria 2016 in Syria Election and referendum articles with incomplete results