ZCZC
BFF-22
SYRIA-CONFLICT-ELECTION
Polls open in Syrian local elections: state media
DAMASCUS, Sept 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Voting began across government-
controlled parts of Syria on Sunday for the war-ravaged country’s first local
elections since 2011, state news agency SANA said.
Polling booths opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and are expected to stay open
for 12 hours.
“Voting centres opened for citizens to cast their ballots to elect their
representatives in the local administrative councils,” SANA reported.
“More than 40,000 candidates are competing for 18,478 seats across all
provinces,” it said.
Syrian state television broadcast footage of voters around Damascus and in
the coastal government bastions of Tartus and Latakia dropping their ballots
into plastic boxes as election officials looked on.
Syrian troops now control around two-thirds of the country after scoring a
series of military victories in recent months, including around Damascus and
in the country’s south.
Voting was expected in some of the recaptured areas.
The number of seats had slightly increased from the roughly 17,000 open in
the last elections, as smaller villages had been promoted to fully fledged
municipalities.
The councils operate at the municipal level, and newly elected
representatives are expected to have more responsibilities than their
predecessors, especially those linked to reconstruction and urban
development.
Syria last held local elections in December 2011, just nine months into the
conflict.
It held parliamentary elections in 2016 and a presidential vote in 2014
that renewed President Bashar al-Assad’s rule for another seven years.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1239 hrs