2016 Syrian parliamentary election


Parliamentary elections were held in Syria to elect the People's Assembly on 13 April 2016, electing members for the 2016–2020 parliamentary term.

Background

Amidst nearly five years of civil war and ensuing negotiations for a ceasefire, following the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War and Syrian Arab Army gains, President Bashar al-Assad called the election.
At the time of the election, Idlib Governorate was almost entirely outside government control, as it was controlled by rebels. Raqqa Governorate and Deir ez-Zor Governorate were mostly occupied by ISIL. As such, elections did not take place in these provinces. Parts of Aleppo, Homs, and Daraa governorates were also held by anti-government forces at the time of the election. Rojava had also been semi-autonomous since the civil war began.

Electoral system

All 250 members of the People's Assembly were elected from 15 multi-member constituencies in general tickets.
ConstituencySeatsPopulation
Damascus Governorate291,754,000
Rif Dimashq Governorate192,836,000
Aleppo 202,132,100
Aleppo Governorate322,735,900
Homs Governorate231,803,000
Hama Governorate221,628,000
Latakia Governorate171,008,000
Idlib Governorate181,501,000
Tartus Governorate13797,000
Raqqa Governorate8944,000
Deir ez-Zor Governorate141,239,000
Al-Hasakah Governorate141,512,000
Daraa Governorate101,027,000
As-Suwayda Governorate6370,000
Quneitra Governorate590,000
Total25021,377,000

Results

The Ba'ath Party-led National Progressive Front won 200 of the 250 seats, while the opposition inside and outside the country boycotted the elections; voter turnout was 57.56%. Two Armenians were elected to the People's Assembly.

Reactions