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Syria Held Parliamentary Elections Sunday

VOA News

   Syriansacross government-heldterritory voted Sunday to elect 250
   members of parliament.

   Peoplecast their ballotsat more than 7,000 polling stations,
   includinginareasthat the army has recapturedfrom the opposition
   forcesduringthe last two years.

   Originallyscheduledfor April,the parliamentaryelectionswere postponed
   twice due to the coronavirus pandemic.

   With the backing ofRussia and Iran, Syrian PresidentBashar
   al-Assadcontrols more of the country's territorythanat any time during
   the war, while Kurdish forces control the northeast area and opposition
   forces onlya northwest corner near the Turkish border.

   It isexpectedthattheruling Baath party and its allieswillwin again,
   marking Assad's20 yearsin power. He has presidedover nearlyadecade war
   that has killed thousands of people andforded millions to leave the
   country.

   Assad's opponents and Western powers denounced the vote as a farce. The
   United States says the goal is to hold Assad to accountfor the misery
   he has brought for Syrian people.

   More than 1,600 candidates, many prominent businessmen, competed on
   Sunday forthe250parliamentaryseats. All candidates were pre-approved by
   the government.'¯'¯'¯

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