Parliamentary elections are held in Syria once every four years, with slightly over two-thirds of the seats (170 out of 250) being reserved for candidates from the National Progressive Front (NPF), a coalition of ten ruling parties headed by the Ba'th. The remaining 80 seats are open for independent candidates.

It should be noted that in the outgoing parliament 167 seats were reserved for the NPF, and the remaining 83 for independents; in other words, the number of seats reserved for the NPF in this year's elections is greater than in the past.

The parliamentary elections are being held amidst sharp criticism on the part of the Syrian opposition. The "Damascus Declaration," an umbrella organization of numerous opposition parties and extra-parliamentary opposition groups, including the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and Kurdish groups, has announced that the Syrian opposition intends to boycott the elections, saying that the current elections law does not allow for free, fair, and transparent democratic elections in Syria.

The current Syrian elections law was first enacted in 1973 and has undergone numerous changes since then. The law does not allow opposition parties to run candidates in parliamentary elections; this right is reserved for the parties in the NPF. It should be noted that at the tenth congress of the Ba'th party's national assembly, held in June, 2005, the assembly recommended the adoption of a new elections law that would allow for the establishment of new parties in Syria that would be allowed to participate in parliamentary elections. Throughout January and February 2006 numerous reports appeared in the Syrian media on the drafting of various proposed laws in anticipation of the issuing of the "Parties Law" in Syria. According to the reports, the law was to have been issued in April, 2006, but to date no new law has been enacted.

Criticism of the elections can be observed in the official Syrian press as well. In recent weeks dozens of articles have been published which sharply criticize the parliamentary candidates, describing them as freely scattering promises, but not doing anything once elected apart from actions that serve their personal interest.


To read the full article and examples of criticism, please follow the link: