General Information
At stake in this election:
- The office of the President of Syria
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President Bashar al-ASSAD
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Wael Nader al-HALQI
- Assembly: Syria has a unicameral People's Assembly (Majlis al-Shaab) with 250 seats.
Description of electoral system:
- The President is elected by popular vote to serve a seven-year term.
- The President appoints the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers and their respective deputies.
- In the People's Assembly (Majlis al-Shaab), 250 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve four-year terms.[1]
Election Note:
- A new constitution approved by popular referendum on 26 February 2012 included several amended provisions, which will have an impact on the legal framework governing the forthcoming presidential election. Among the amendments are:
- Revision of Article 8 to remove the Ba’ath Party as “the leading party in society and state” thereby allowing for greater competition.
- Reform of the electoral system away from a referendum on the presidential candidate towards a competitive multi-candidate majoritarian electoral system.[2]
- Revised candidacy requirements including:
- Requirement that birth parents have Arab Syrian nationality since their birth;
- Must enjoy political and civil rights and not have been convicted of a ‘disgraceful’ offense that, even if rehabilitated, may have stripped the candidate of his or her political and civil rights;
- Must not be married to a non-Syrian spouse;
- Must be permanently residing in Syria at least 10 continuous years before the time of the submission of the candidacy application;[3]
- Imposition of term limits for the president to two-7 year terms.[4]
Candidates in this presidential election: [5]
- Bashar al-ASSAD
- Hassan Abdullah al-NOURI
- Independent Candidate[6]
- Maher Abdul-Hafiz HAJJAR
- Independent Candidate[7]
Last election:
- The last presidential referendum in Syria was held in May 2007, during which President Bashar Al-Assad, the Ba’ath party candidate approved by the People’s Assembly, was confirmed by 97.6 percent of the votes with a turnout of 96 percent according to official figures. Results can be found here.
Population and Voter Registration:
Gender Data:
· Female Population: 9,267,648 (2014)
· Is Syria a signatory to CEDAW: No
· Has Syria ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (28 March 2003)
· Gender Quota: No
· Female candidates in this election: Yes
· Number of Female Parliamentarians: 30 (following the 2012 elections)
· Human Development Index Position: 134
· Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very High
Disability Data:
· Is Syria a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
· Has Syria ratified CRPD: Yes (10 July 2009)
· Population with a disability: 2,692,745 (est.)
[1] The new constitution (ratified via a controversial referendum on February 26, 2012) revised Article 8 of the Constitution to remove the Baath Party as “the leading party in the society and state,” creating a more pluralistic political system. Previously, only parties that belonged to the National Progressive Front ( لجبهة الوطنية التقدمية, al-Jabha al-Wataniyyah at-Taqaddumiyyah, NPF), a coalition of 11 parties headed by the Ba’ath party, could run in elections.
[2] Article 85 of the Constitution outlines the candidacy process, which includes a stipulation requiring candidates to obtain written support from 35 members of the People’s Assembly. If the PA is dissolved during the electoral period, the incumbent President shall remain in power until a new assembly has been elected and seated.
[3] This provision is controversial as its inclusion is seen by many as an attempt to disqualify members of the Syrian opposition who had been forcibly displaced.
[4] It is important to note that this provision will become active starting with the 2014 elections; therefore, President Bashar Al-Assad, who has been president since 2000, will be able to run in the 2014 and 2021 elections.
[5] 24 candidates submitted their applications to the Supreme Constitutional Court, which notified parliament and requested written support for the candidates; candidates must have at least 35 MPs approve their candidacy to be considered. The Court reviewed applications and determined that only three candidates met all the criteria to run.
[6] Al-Nouri is the head of the National Initiative for Administration and Change in Syria in Damascus. He previously served as the Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs from 2000-2002, during which time he was also a member of the People’s Assembly (1998-2003). Prior to his ministerial post, he served as the Secretary of Damascus Chamber of Industry from 1997-2000.
[7] Hajjar is a former member of the Syrian Communist Party and was elected to the People’s Assembly in 2012 as the representative from Aleppo and as a member of the People’s Will Party / حزب ارادة الشعب. A statement from the party on 23 April 2014 stated that Hajjar is no longer affiliated with the party or its coalition, the Popular Front for Change and Liberation / الجبهة الشعبية للتحرير والتغيير.
[8] An estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes since the conflict began in 2011, including 2.5 million refugees and 6.5 million internally displaced persons.
[9] Due to the civil war, large areas of the country are not under government control and may lack sufficient security to allow for voting; the extent to which voting can take place in these and other contested areas is unclear. In addition, only those refugees who crossed through government-controlled “official” border crossings, with an exit stamp, will be eligible to vote abroad. While 88 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon meet this criteria, it is important to note that over 50% of them are under 18 and thereby ineligible to vote. Furthermore, most of the refugees who have fled to Turkey and Iraq do not have official exit stamps.