Syria - 2012 Election
Although the government symbolically lifted the emergency law in April, it conducted frequent police and military operations against the civilian population. The Asad regime continued to use indiscriminate and deadly force to quell protests, including military assaults on cities and residential areas throughout the country. For example, beginning in mid-April, the regime attacked civilians in funeral processions, breadlines, schools, places of worship, and hospitals throughout the country, asserting these were rebel safe-havens.
More than 576,000 refugees registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in neighboring states and North Africa, and more than 2.5 million were displaced internally. A UN study concluded more than 60,000 persons had died since the beginning of the crisis in March 2011. Their data, drawn from Syrian-based documentation organizations, showed the number of deaths increased from approximately 1,000 per month in summer 2011 to an average of more than 5,000 per month as of July 2012.
The rate of deliberate killings by the regime increased throughout the year, as did the regime’s use of lethal tactics. According to HRW, the government specifically targeted members of opposition groups, human rights organizations, activists, artists, and pro-opposition scholars. The government also continued to target individuals with previous ties to foreign governments that favored the opposition and extended targeting to include family members and close associates of those individuals. Throughout the country progovernment rooftop snipers directly targeted individuals in streets, including civilians going about their daily lives as well as those affiliated with the opposition. The government also increased its tactical use of aerial bombardment and shelling to target civilians directly, using both helicopters and airplanes. Human rights organizations also reported consistent use of indiscriminate force by the regime, including using imprecise weaponry against areas known to host civilian populations.
A February 2015 referendum approved a new constitution allowing the formation of new parties to compete with Syria's Baath-led coalition. Following the February 26 ratification of a new constitution, President Asad signed Presidential Decree No. 113, setting parliamentary elections for May 7. Simultaneously, regime forces began extensive military action against opposition-held areas in the northwest of the country. Nine newly-licensed parties challenged the front dominated by the Ba'ath Party, which has ruled since 1972. The government showed less tolerance for other political parties than in previous years. Parties such as the Communist Union Movement, the Communist Action Party’s Party, and Arab Social Union were harassed and their members arrested. Police arrested members of Islamist parties. The number of illegal political parties proliferated from previous years; they were difficult to document due to a lack of available data.
Syria said more than half of eligible voters turned out for the 07 May 2012 parliamentary election boycotted by opposition groups who said it had no credibility while the government pursues a deadly crackdown on dissent. Syrian election committee chairman Khalaf al-Izzaoui said 15 May 2012 the voter turnout reached 51 percent, equivalent to five million people. There was no independent monitoring of the election and opposition activists said there was little voting in towns and villages where security forces have been suppressing a 14-month long opposition uprising.
The election official read out a list of winning candidates for the 250-seat Syrian parliament, which has been dominated for decades by the ruling Baath party of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The list included 30 women and one candidate who has described himself as an independent, Qadri Jamil. The Syrian official did not give a breakdown of votes by party or region.
The election announcement came on the day when regime forces launched a fresh assault on anti-Assad rebel strongholds in the country’s northwest. The election result handed the Ba'ath party and allies 168 seats in the 250-seat legislature. The opposition received six seats with the remainder going to “non-partisans,” most considered regime placemen.
The only opposition group that chose to participate actively was the Popular Front for Change and Liberation, which won five seats in the 250-seat parliament. The group alleged the low level of opposition turnout proved voter fraud by the regime. Voting had to be repeated at several polling places throughout the country, due to unspecified election law violations. Western observers and the UN released statements declaring the elections not free or fair.
The exiled Syrian National Council opposition coalition dismissed the new parties as government creations. The coalition voted to extend the term of its leader Burhan Ghalioun by another three months. Syrian Islamists have a dominant role in the SNC and have deemed Ghalioun to be an acceptable figure to the international community. SNC members also include nationalists, Kurds and independents. The opposition group has won recognition from a coalition of anti-Assad nations as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people. But, the SNC has struggled to unify its various factions and has been plagued by personal rivalries.
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