Local administration councils’ elections kick off in Syria

On September 18th, 7am, local administration councils’ elections kicked off in 7348 election centers.  Syria has 1470 administrative units in 14 governorates, 158 cities, 572 towns and 726 municipalities.

The Head of the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections, Judge Counselor Jihad Murad said that the 59,498 candidates for local council elections vary between 11,956 young men under the age of forty and 11,230 women.

Judge Murad said that there are 21,191 candidates holding university degrees, including 3034 engineers.

He confirmed that all the requirements of the electoral process have been secured, including logistical supplies, publications, envelopes, etc. He confirmed allocating a number of places isolated with curtains have been allocated in each polling center to enable the voter to vote in secret.

During the election’s day, Judge Murad announced: “We did not notice any complaints or discrepancy about the electoral process and the turnout is increasing.”

Sowha Alia, Director of Local Councils and Executive Bureaus in the Governorate of Damascus in a meeting with Syria Times said that 330 candidates are competing for the provincial council that has 100 seats, which are distributed over 5 electoral districts in the Governorate of Damascus.

Ms. Sowha Alia said that the number of electoral centers in the governorate of Damascus is 498, distributed over the five electoral districts, which are:

1-            Al-Midan – Al-Qadam – Yarmouk

2-            Qaymariya -Jobar – Barzeh – Masaken Barzeh – Qaboun

3-            Muhajirin and  Salhia

4-            Al-Qanaawat – Kafr Sousa _ Mazzeh _ Dummar _ Kiwan _ New Sham

5-            Sarouja _ A’amarah _ Shaghour

“The Local Administration elections are run every four years and aim to achieve popular democracy and administrative decentralization in Syria. Local Administration Law No 107, which was issued on August 23, 2022, guarantees the distribution of authority between the local council and central government,” Ms. Sowha Alia said during a meeting with Syria Times.

“The elected local councils work to cooperate with civil society to carry out developing projects and good public services in addition to improving the education, agriculture, culture, health sectors in their areas,”  she added.

Syria Times toured different election centers in Damascus downtown, where it met with Rashid Atwan, a 38-year-old governmental employee at the Damascus Sport Club.

“It is my duty to participate in the local administration elections to strengthen the principle of political pluralism in the country. I want to prove that Syrians still live and run elections despite the global war against their country,” Atwan said to Syria Times while he was voting in an election center in the Damascene district of Kafr Sousa.

“I want to elect the suitable candidates for the coming four -year term to improve the public services and works in their municipalities. The municipality is a very important body to run the local issues and services in the districts of Damascus,” Engineer Mouad al-Tantori, a 29 -year-old said to Syria Times.

“The ordinary people have a direct daily relationship with their municipality, so they should participate in the elections to elect the good candidates who will serve them and achieve what they want.”

During a press conference at the Ministry of Information building on September 12th , the Minister of Local Administration and Environment, Hussein Makhlouf,  said that the Local Administration Law No. 107 of 2011 fully enshrined the mechanism and organization of the work of administrative units, as Article 8 of it stipulates that the legal personality of the administrative unit represents the common public interest of all citizens residing in the administrative unit, including the interest of future generations.

He added that the local councils of the elected administrative units are considered representative of the will of the legal personality and their legal responsibility is determined in accordance with the provisions of this law.

He referred to the high turnout for candidacy for the local council elections.

Minister Makhlouf said that the number of the 2022 local elections centers reached 7,348 centers, an increase of about 1,200 centers compared to the 2018 elections.

Reported by: Obaida Hamad /Inas Abdulkareem

Photos by: Mahfouz Abu Hadir