Syrian elections to exclude Kurdish, Druze areas

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The first Syrian elections since the fall of the regime will not include areas controlled by Kurdish forces in the northeast and Druze in the south due to “security challenges,” the spokesperson for the electoral body said on Saturday.

“Out of the Higher Committee for People's Assembly Elections' commitment to fair representation in the People's Assembly for the three Syrian provinces - Suwayda, Hasaka and Raqqa - and given the security challenges these governorates are witnessing, the Supreme Committee has decided to postpone the electoral process in the aforementioned provinces until suitable conditions and a safe environment for conducting them are available,” Nawar Najma told Rudaw. 

Most of Hasaka and Raqqa provinces are controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the southern province of Suwayda is controlled by the Druze. 

“Their allocated seats remain reserved until elections can be held there as soon as possible,” the spokesperson added. 

The legislative elections, set to be held next month, will be the first vote since the new leadership in Damascus took power in December after ousting dictator Bashar al-Assad. People will not directly elect their representatives, instead the process will go through a number of committees.  

It will begin with district-level subcommittees formed by the elections committee and selecting members for electoral bodies - approximately 50 members per People's Assembly seat, Najma told Rudaw late last month. "After that, we move to the second stage, the electoral stage, where elections are held within these electoral bodies.”

Two-thirds of parliament members will be elected through this internal process, while the remaining one-third will be appointed directly by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The head of the electoral body said last month that the number of parliamentary seats would rise from 150 to 210, state media reported. The distribution will be based on the 2011 census and would be distributed among Syria’s 14 provinces.

A temporary constitution signed by Sharaa in March mandates the formation of a People’s Assembly to act as an interim parliament until a permanent constitution is finalized and general elections are conducted.

Nalin Hassan contributed to this article.