No surprises expected as Syrians vote in parliamentary poll

DAMASCUS: Syrians in government-held areas were voting on Monday in their fourth parliamentary election since civil war erupted in 2011, a poll expected to keep President Bashar al-Assad´s ruling Baath party in power.

The election came amid overtures from Ankara towards Damascus, after ties were severed following the start of Syria´s war in 2011, with Assad saying he was open to meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan depending on the encounter´s “content”.

Voting was calm in most areas, but a war monitor and a local media outlet reported anti-election protests in southern Sweida province, the heartland of Syria´s Druze minority, which has seen regular demonstrations for almost a year.

The Baath party -- in power since 1963 -- and its secular left-wing and Arab nationalist allies are running virtually unopposed, with independents the only alternative. More than 1,500 people are standing for the largely rubber-stamp parliament, according to Syria´s Supreme Judicial Elections Committee.

Assad´s Baath party is expected to secure most of the 250 seats in the legislative ballot, which is held every four years. “We have to take responsibility for electing good people and not repeating the mistakes of the past in voting for old names who can´t change anything,” said health ministry employee Bodoor Abu Ghazaleh, 49, voting in Damascus.