Political, Social Figures: Transitional govt elections lack legitimacy

On October 5, the Transitional Govt in Syria conducted elections for what it called the “Parliament” or “People’s Council,” sparking wide debate in political and media circles over its legitimacy—particularly after excluding the regions of North and East Syria and the city of Sweida from participation, in addition to the election mechanism itself.

Syrian Women Deprived of Their True Rights

In this context, ANHA Agency spoke with political and social figures in the city of Hasaka, in the Jazira Canton, to gauge their views on the elections.

Anoush Tetryan, an administrator in the Armenian Social Council, stated that the elections were “not democratic at all,” noting that “women’s participation was extremely limited.”

She added: “If these elections were truly democratic, women from all communities should have been included on a broad scale. The constitution must also be diverse and originate from the people—not from individuals driven by personal interests.”

Tetryan pointed out that “individuals were appointed rather than elected,” while the excluded regions “are the ones most affected and have established a distinct democratic system.” She said: “The current government is an even worse version of the previous regime—it bears no resemblance to democracy.”

Women in Syria Reject Symbolic Measures

For her part, Kolojan Jaafar, a member of the Coordination Committee of the Yazidi Union of Syria, stated that the Syrian people—who have sacrificed thousands of martyrs over thirteen years of war—now face a temporary government that “monopolizes power, deriving its legitimacy from armed groups through the seizure of presidential powers and the formation of ministries.”

She emphasized that the government continues to take unilateral decisions, the latest of which was the announcement of what it calls the “People’s Council.”

Jaafar criticized the allocation of less than 20% of parliamentary seats to women, describing it as “an attempt to polish the government’s image before the world,” asserting that “Syrian women were at the forefront of the revolution, have made enormous sacrifices, and continue to struggle.

 They deserve full rights in the upcoming Syrian constitution—in political, military, diplomatic, and cultural fields—not to be reduced to mere token representation.”

She added: “As women of North and East Syria, we reject this decision, which serves only to beautify the government’s image before the world. These steps are merely attempts to gain false legitimacy at a time when the regime is weakening. Syrian women have yet to attain their true rights within the government or its ministries.”

Transitional Government Fails in Crisis Management

In the same context, Farhan Dawoud, Co-Chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Hasaka, said that the elections conducted by the Transitional Government “do not represent the will of the people of the region,” noting that “this government was formed under international arrangements and foreign influence over contested territories.”

He added that the current elections “excluded several key areas such as North and East Syria and Sweida.”

Dawoud emphasized that a genuine parliament should be elected directly by the people, with fair representation for every social group and component. Excluding North and East Syria—“the most diverse region in terms of ethnicity and religion”—deprives the elections of any democratic character and renders their outcomes harmful to Syria as a whole, since they fail to reflect the true will of the Syrian people.

a.k

ANHA