Analysis: What the election results tell about the reality of war-torn Syria
Ken Stone writes in Strategic Culture:
Syrian election on 13 April was a vote of confidence by the Syrian people in their government. 5,085,444 voters cast their ballots out of a possible 8,834,994 eligible voters.
The overall participation rate of 58% (virtually identical to Canada’s last federal election) exceeded the government’s expectations in most places but was low in others. For example, it was over 80% in Homs but only 52% in Tartous. What might explain the uneven results is the history of the war. People who suffered the most from the war, for example in Homs, were probably more grateful for their liberation and more motivated to exercise their political rights than people in Tartous who saw no fighting at all (though they lost thousands upon thousands of sons and grandsons in the war).
Also significant was the fact that over 140,000 refugees returned across the Lebanese border in just one day in order to vote. And the polling hours in Damascus, which suffered a lot from the fighting, had to be extended until 11 pm to accommodate all the voters. There were even polling stations set up by the government in recently liberated Palmyra and Al-Qaryaten, though those polls were largely symbolic because the inhabitants of those towns have not yet been able to return to their homes due to widespread destruction, following liberation by the Syrian Arab Army.
The voter participation rate is key to this election, more important than the individual candidates who were elected. Here’s why: you need to understand elections in a constitutionally-created state, in which one party dominates, in terms of a strike vote in a trade union. It demonstrates continuing confidence in the leadership at a turning point in the struggle. A union would not be satisfied with a strike vote of 58%, going into a strike. And probably the Syrian government would have wished for a higher rate going into the negotiations at Geneva. But it knew from the start that holding the elections under the conditions of war and occupation was a gamble, because there are a lot of eligible voters living outside of Syria right now, living in places besieged by the terrorists, and who have died but not yet been accounted for. Taking into account these factors, the participation rate would probably have been much higher.
Among our solidarity delegation, we have been pleased that the Syrian authorities did not try to inflate the figures to make the election results appear better than they actually were: it reinforces our contention that the Syrian government is a credible force in the serious negotiations ahead.
As mentioned, the turning point for Syria is the current round of negotiations taking place right now in Geneva to find a lasting political solution to the crisis. Today, the Syrian delegation took their seats with a mandate from the Syrian people, whereas the opposition delegation of head-choppers cobbled together at the last minute by the USA and Saudi Arabia have no mandate at all from the unfortunate Syrians who suffer under military occupation in “rebel-held” areas. No elections were held there. Western governments, such as the USA, have dismissed the Syrian election out of hand, though the participation rate in the last US election was only 48%. […]
It bears repeating that these parliamentary elections were defiantly called by the Syrian government as “an exercise in national sovereignty.” The point was to show the world, especially those western and Gulf states, who have waged the five-year long war of aggression against Syria, that Syrians are united in the belief that Syrians, and only Syrians, will decide the fate of Syria.
It appears that the gamble paid off.
Related report in Syria Perspective:
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Great Post
Reblogged this on Worldtruth and commented:
It’s a lot better than the election results of the UK where only 24% of the returned votes put the Conservatives in power given that the other 76% did not want Conservatives. UK’s democracy is neither fair nor representative unlike that of Syria’s.
And now the opposition representatives to the Geneva peace talks have flounced out of the talks.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government representatives are staying on in Geneva, waiting for the talks to resume.
These loser opposition fores really are pathetic. They thought others would force Assad out of office for them.
Their problem is that they do not have a leader with the acumen, strategic understanding and charisma of an Assad.
Meanwhile, they wander from capital city to capital city, hoping like Dickens Mr Micawber that “something will turn up”.
What a truly pathetic bunch of losers they truly are.
Hold the Fort John. The US and EU/UN/Saudi cavalry might still ride in “to the rescue” of the Syrian people and impose a democratic government on them. Everybody knows the Syrians don’t know what’s good for them. Obama, Cameron and Saudi Arabia have said so and of course they have the backing of the truly honourable mainstream press. As for the “nicer” head choppers, they were relying on the US and other fine examples of western and Saudi/Qatar “civilised” democratic and humanitarian governments to denounce the elections, to save the Syrian people from themselves.
Oh wait, they already have. Hooda thunk it!