Politics of Syria - Political Parties and Elections

Political Parties and Elections

The last parliamentary election was on 7 May 2012 and the results were announced on 15 May.

The Baath party won an even larger victory than it did in previous elections. They won a majority of around 60% of the 250 parliamentary seats. Previously, the Baath had a majority of just over 50% of the seats in parliament. If one adds in the independent MPs aligned with the Baath Party, the MPs who support the president make up over 90% of the seats in new parliament. The National Unity List, which is dominated by the Syrian Baath Party, won more than 150 seats in the 250 member parliament. Independent individuals won more than 90 seats. Among the newly established opposition parties (established since August 2011), only one single seat was won, namely a seat in Aleppo won by the Syrian Democratic Party, Ahmad Koussa. In addition three representatives of longstanding opposition parties have been elected to Parliament: Qadri Jamil and Ali Haydar from the Front for Change and Liberation, and Amro Osi from the Initiative of Syrian Kurds.

For other political parties see List of political parties in Syria. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Syria.
e • d Summary of the 7 May 2012 People's Council of Syria election results
Parties Votes % Seats Seats inside
National Progressive Front (al-jabha al-waTaniyyah at-taqaddumiyyah) 168
  • Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Hizb al-ba'th al-'arabi al-ishtiraki)
 134
  • Socialist Unionists (al-wahdawiyyun al-ishtirakiyyun)
 18
  • Communist Party of Syria (al-Hizb ash-shuyu'i as-suri, Wissal Farha Bakdash faction)
 8
  • Communist Party of Syria (Yusuf Faisal faction)
 3
  • National Vow Movement (Harakat al-'ahd al-waTani)
 3
  • Arab Socialist Union (al-ittiHad al-ishtiraki al-'arabi)
 2
Popular Front for Change and Liberation 5
  • Syrian Social Nationalist Party (al-Hizb as-suri al-qawmi al-ijtima'i)
 4
  • People’s Will Party
 1
non-partisans 77
Total 250
Source: Syrian parliament

Read more about this topic:  Politics Of Syria

Famous quotes containing the words political, parties and/or elections:

    “If any doubt has arisen as to me, my country [Virginia] will have my political creed in the form of a “Declaration &c.” which I was lately directed to draw. This will give decisive proof that my own sentiment concurred with the vote they instructed us to give.”
    —Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

    “Men are to be guided only by their self-interests. Good government is a good balancing of these; and, except a keen eye and appetite for self-interest, requires no virtue in any quarter. To both parties it is emphatically a machine: to the discontented, a “taxing- machine;” to the contented, a “machine for securing property.” Its duties and its faults are not those of a father, but of an active parish-constable.”
    —Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)

    “In my public statements I have earnestly urged that there rested upon government many responsibilities which affect the moral and spiritual welfare of our people. The participation of women in elections has produced a keener realization of the importance of these questions and has contributed to higher national ideals. Moreover, it is through them that our national ideals are ingrained in our children.”
    —Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)