Al-Ahmad announces the postponement of People's Assembly elections in 3 Syrian governorates.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Gulf - Follow-ups: The head of the Supreme Committee for the Syrian People's Assembly elections, Muhammad Taha Al-Ahmad, announced yesterday, Friday, in a special interview with "Sky News Arabia," the postponement of the practical procedures for the Syrian People's Assembly elections, following the Syrian President Ahmed Al-Shar’s ratification of the temporary electoral system for the People's Assembly. Out of the Supreme Committee for the People's Assembly elections' concern for fair representation in the People's Assembly for the three Syrian governorates (Al-Suwaida, Al-Hasakah, and Raqqa), and given the security challenges these governorates are witnessing, the Supreme Committee decided to postpone the electoral process in the aforementioned governorates until suitable conditions and a safe environment are available for its conduct, and their allocated seats will remain reserved until the elections are held in them as soon as possible." He added that the new electoral system stipulates the formation of a supreme election committee appointed by the President of the Republic, which oversees the entire process, so that two-thirds of the council members, numbering 210, are elected through local electoral bodies, while the remaining third is appointed by presidential decree. Seats are also distributed according to the population distribution of each governorate. According to the decree, a member of the electoral body must be Syrian before May 1, 2011, and must not have run for president or the People's Assembly after 2011 unless his defection is proven, and must not be a supporter of the former regime or terrorist organizations. In response to a question about the reason for adopting an indirect system through electoral bodies instead of direct voting, Al-Ahmad said: "Many Syrians inside and outside the country do not have identification papers due to displacement, destruction, and the burning of civil registry records by the former regime, which prompted us to devise a mechanism that allows the People's Assembly to be reached as one of the three authorities in the new Syria." Regarding concerns about weakening the legitimacy of the council in the absence of direct voting, he explained that "all Syrians have the right to object to members of the electoral bodies through appeal committees spread across 62 electoral districts, which guarantees the sorting of scientific and community competencies." He affirmed that the upcoming council, expected to be elected in September, will play three main roles: legislating laws in accordance with the stage, representing Syrian society in all its diversity, and holding the government accountable through oversight of the budget.