Opposition boycotts Syrian parliament elections | WPN World People News

The Syrian government Monday held the first multi-party parliament elections in 50 years in what President Bashar al Assad's regime called political reforms but the opposition boycotted the polls calling the exercise a sham that was aimed to preserve the dictator rule.

The opposition said that the polls could not be enough to end a bloody internal conflict that has lasted more than a year and killed over 9,000 people, according to a UN count.

The voting for Syria's 250 member parliament was held three months after the government adopted a new constitution that allowed formation of multiple parties. It also limits president's tenure in office to two seven-year terms.''

Syria's Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said voting was held in an atmosphere of "democracy and political pluralism".

There were seven parties in the fray following the government's initiated "reform process". The ruling Baath party is leading an alliance of National Progressive Front. Over 7,000 candidates are contesting in the country of 15 million eligible voters out of a population of 24 million.

The voting started at 7 in the morning as Syria's state run TV showed pictures of voters queuing up in front of polling booths to cast their ballots in large, plastic boxes.

But the opposition dismissed the polls as Bashar al-Haraki, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), said the elections were a "farce which can be added to the regime's masquerade".

The polls are being held at a time when UN envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan is being tested in the conflict hit nation. But the plan is yet to pass the test of the international society.

The plan seeks ceasefire and withdrawal of forces from conflict hit areas under the scrutiny of UN monitors. But as the fighting refuses to abate, the fate of the Annan plan hangs in balance, because the ceasefire that was to begin April 12 has never really been implemented.

About 40 UN observers are currently in Syria to monitor the truce. UN officials hope a wider deployment of up to 300 international truce monitors will gradually calm the situation.

In Syria, parliament is not an influential body as the real power vests with Assad.

It was not clear if voting was held at all places in the conflict-ridden nation.

Source: Middle East News.Net