A health worker tests a man as part of security measures to avoid the spread of coronavirus, at the Bab el-Salam border crossing between the Syrian town of Azaz and the Turkish town of Kilis, seen from Syria, March 14, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
A health worker tests a man as part of security measures to avoid the spread of coronavirus, at the Bab el-Salam border crossing between the Syrian town of Azaz and the Turkish town of Kilis, seen from Syria, March 14, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Electoral campaigns in Syrian government-controlled areas show that a large number of candidates for the People’s Council (Parliament) are closely linked to Iran, while a few others have ties to Russia, after Damascus rejected Moscow’s demands on the upcoming parliamentary polls.
Up to 8,735 candidates will compete for 250 seats in the elections that will be held on July 19.
The Baath Party announced the National Unity List, which comprises 166 Baathist candidates and 17 others from the National Progressive Front parties.
The elections will also see a wide participation by businessmen and prominent merchants, many of whom are running as independent candidates, especially in Damascus and Aleppo.
In Damascus, three lists formed of merchants and businessmen are competing in the electoral race. Those are “Jasmine”, “Damascus” and “Sham”.
A major investment of political money was seen in the advertisements for the lists of businessmen and big merchants, who have the largest share of billboards and banners, in comparison to shy campaigns for the rest of independent candidates.
In light of the suffocating living crisis in government-controlled areas, where 90 percent of citizens live below the poverty line, talks are circulating within media and advertising circles about businessmen and traders who are preparing to buy votes.
The majority of those candidates have strong ties with Iran, which supported the regime during the ongoing war.
Mohammed Hamsho is one of the leading candidates who has solid ties and extensive commercial links with Tehran. Also, militants affiliated with him have fought with the Iranian militias.
Hamsho is known to offer widespread financial support for residents of Damascus neighborhoods and suburbs.
Likewise, Fahd Mahmoud Darwish and Musan Nahhas both have extensive commercial links with Iran.
Darwish, who participated in the Iranian militias’ engagement in Damascus, is the vice-president of the Syrian-Iranian Joint Chamber of Commerce, and heads the Armada Company - the agent of Syrian-Iranian Auto Manufacturing Company.
He also chairs the Supreme Committee for Investors in the Free Zones and the General Manager of Al-Baraka pharmaceutical company, with its mother-company based in Iran. He is also one of the supervisors of the Iranian Center in the Damascus Free Zone, which encompasses 22 Iranian companies.
Nahas, for his part, is the secretary of the Syrian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce in Damascus, the director of the International Investment Company, the Caesar Investment Company, and Michelangelo Advertising. He is also the agent of the Iranol oil company and a member of the Board of Directors of Madarat for electronic payment services. He chairs the Development Association Charity, which provides support to thousands of Shiite families.
On the other hand, Russia’s role in these elections is almost unnoticeable. Candidates close to Moscow only include Businessman Hussam Qatirji and Burwin Ibrahim, a Kurd candidate for the city of Hasaka.
According to Law 5 of 2014 and its amendments, Syrians, who have left the country illegally are prevented from voting. The law stipulates that non-resident Syrians are only entitled to exercise their right to elect the President of the Republic. It does not refer, however, to the People’s Assembly elections.
State employees represent the largest number of voters. There are around 1.6 million public servants, in addition to the military in the army, who are now entitled to vote after the amendment of the electoral law in 2016.
France Is Facing an Election like No Other. Here’s How It Works and What Comes Nexthttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5035541-france-facing-election-no-other-here%E2%80%99s-how-it-works-and-what-comes-next
Ballots are seen at a polling station inside the Petit Poucet school during France's crunch legislative elections at the Vallee du Tir district in Noumea, in France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
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France Is Facing an Election like No Other. Here’s How It Works and What Comes Next
Ballots are seen at a polling station inside the Petit Poucet school during France's crunch legislative elections at the Vallee du Tir district in Noumea, in France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
French voters are being called to the polls on Sunday for an exceptional moment in their political history: the first round of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no majority emerging at all.
The outcome of the vote, following the second round on July 7 and a hasty campaign, remains highly uncertain as three major political blocs are competing: the far-right National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, and the New Popular Front coalition that includes center-left, greens and hard-left forces.
Here’s a closer look:
How does it work? The French system is complex and not proportionate to nationwide support for a party. Legislators are elected by district. A parliamentary candidate requires over 50% of the day’s vote to be elected outright Sunday.
Failing that, the top two contenders, alongside anyone else who won support from more than 12.5% of registered voters, go forward to a second round.
In some cases, three or four people make it to the second round, though some may step aside to improve the chances of another contender — a tactic often used in the past to block far-right candidates.
Key party leaders are expected to unveil their strategy in between the two rounds. This makes the result of the second round highly uncertain, and dependent on political maneuvering and how voters react.
The far-right National Rally, ahead in all preelection opinion polls, hopes to win an absolute majority, or at least 289 out of the 577 seats.
The National Assembly, the lower house, is the more powerful of France’s two houses of parliament. It has the final say in the law-making process over the Senate, dominated by conservatives.
Macron has a presidential mandate until 2027, and said he would not step down before the end of his term.
A person casts their vote at a polling station in the Magenta district during the first round of France's crunch legislative elections in Noumea in the first constituency of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
What's cohabitation? If another political force than his centrist alliance gets a majority, Macron will be forced to appoint a prime minister belonging to that new majority.
In such a situation — called "cohabitation" in France — the government would implement policies that diverge from the president’s plan.
France’s modern Republic has experienced three cohabitations, the last one under conservative President Jacques Chirac, with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, from 1997 to 2002.
The prime minister is accountable to the parliament, leads the government and introduces bills.
"In case of cohabitation, policies implemented are essentially those of the prime minister," political historian Jean Garrigues said.
The president is weakened at home during cohabitation, but still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense because he is in charge of negotiating and ratifying international treaties. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, and is the one holding the nuclear codes.
"It’s possible for the president to prevent or temporarily suspend the implementation of a certain number of the prime minister’s projects, since he has the power to sign or not sign the government’s ordinances or decrees," Garrigues added.
"Yet the prime minister has the power to submit these ordinances and decrees to a vote of the National Assembly, thus overriding the president’s reluctance," he noted.
A car drives past electoral posters, Thursday, June 27, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP)
Who leads defense and foreign policies? During previous cohabitations, defense and foreign policies were considered the informal "reserved field" of the president, who was usually able to find compromises with the prime minister to allow France to speak with one voice abroad.
Yet today, both the far-right and the leftist coalition's views in these areas differ radically from Macron’s approach and would likely be a subject of tension during a potential cohabitation.
According to the Constitution, while "the president is the head of the military, it's the prime minister who has the armed forces at his disposal," Garrigues said.
"In the diplomatic field also, the president’s perimeter is considerably restricted," Garrigues added.
The National Rally’s president, Jordan Bardella, said that if he were to become prime minister, he would oppose sending French troops to Ukraine — a possibility Macron has not ruled out. Bardella also said he would refuse French deliveries of long-range missiles and other weaponry capable of striking targets within Russia itself.
If the leftist coalition was to win the elections, it could disrupt France's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
The New Popular Front's platform plans to "immediately recognize the Palestinian state" and "break with the French government’s guilty support" for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Macron previously argued the recognition of the Palestinian state should take place at a "useful moment," suggesting the Israel-Hamas war doesn't not allow such a move at the moment.
French member of parliament and previous candidate for French presidential election Marine Le Pen (R) attends French extreme right party Rassemblement National (RN, National Front) press conference ahead of legislative elections, Paris, France, 24 June 2024. (EPA)
What happens if there's no majority? The president can name a prime minister from the parliamentary group with the most seats at the National Assembly — this was the case of Macron’s own centrist alliance since 2022.
Yet the National Rally already said it would reject such an option, because it would mean a far-right government could soon be overthrown through a no-confidence vote if other political parties join together.
The president could try to build a broad coalition from the left to the right, an option that sounds unlikely, given the political divergences.
Experts say another complex option would be to appoint "a government of experts" unaffiliated with political parties but which would still need to be accepted by a majority at the National Assembly. Such a government would likely deal mostly with day-to-day affairs rather than implementing major reforms.
If political talks take too long amid summer holidays and the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics in Paris, Garrigues said a "transition period" is not ruled out, during which Macron's centrist government would "still be in charge of current affairs," pending further decisions.
"Whatever the National Assembly looks like, it seems that the Constitution of the 5th Republic is flexible enough to survive these complex circumstances," Melody Mock-Gruet, a public law expert teaching at Sciences Po Paris, said in a written note. "Institutions are more solid than they appear, even when faced with this experimental exercise."
"Yet there remains another unknown in the equation: the population’s ability to accept the situation," Mock-Gruet wrote.
