The Tricky Business of Moving On: Syria Holds Its First Elections
NEED TO KNOW
The Tricky Business of Moving On: Syria Holds Its First Elections
SYRIA
Last summer, Syrians went to the polls to choose their representatives in the legislature, or the president’s “clapping assembly,” in elections that were neither transparent nor free nor fair.
Now, more than nine months after a rebel Islamist militia deposed the Syrian government and its leader, Bashar Assad, the country is trying to turn the page: On Oct. 5, some Syrians will be “indirectly” casting their votes for some representatives in the legislature.
Proper elections are still years down the road, the government says.
“The reality in Syria does not permit the holding of traditional elections, given the presence of millions of internally and externally displaced persons, the absence of official documents and the fragility of the legal structure,” said the Syrian government.
After four decades of dictatorship and 14 years of civil war, such an election may not be enough but it’s a start, say analysts.
“This format is a straightforward political calculation,” wrote commentator Jasim Al-Azzawi for Al Jazeera. “It provides the new leadership with the assurance of a controlled outcome and avoids the challenges of organizing a nationwide vote at a time when Damascus does not have full control over all territories…”
Birgit Schaebler of Germany’s University of Erfurt doubts that direct elections would even be possible, given the severely weakened infrastructure and logistics caused by years of civil war, lauding the Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, for sticking with the election date despite the issues, including severe sectarian violence.
“He could have postponed it,” she told Deutsche Welle, referring to the president. “Yet the fact that he has not done so can certainly be seen as a positive sign.”
In this election, votes for the 210-member People’s Assembly – 60 more than the current interim parliament, which was formed in March – will be cast by electoral committees, similar to an electoral college. Voting, however, won’t occur in three districts – those dominated by Kurdish and Druze minorities – due to security concerns, a move criticized by those communities.
Meanwhile, one-third of the People’s Assembly seats will be appointed by al-Sharaa, something Syrian civil rights groups are pressing to change.
The new parliament is to serve for three years: In that period, the hope is that legislators will lay the groundwork for a broader democratic transition, including direct elections and a permanent constitution, while they overhaul decades of state-controlled economic policies.
The elections come as the public has become increasingly frustrated and divided in the wake of the initial unity and euphoria that prevailed after Assad’s ouster.
Since then, there have been frequent and deadly outbreaks of violence across numerous regions that have threatened to unravel the fragile post-war transition.
For example, in August, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces exchanged fire with Syrian government forces near Manbij in Kurdish-majority northeastern Syria. The conflict came just weeks after violence broke out between Druze and Sunni Bedouin groups in the south’s Sweida governorate, killing more than 1,400 people and displacing nearly 175,000. The government was accused of perpetrating some of that violence as it allied with Sunni tribes in a conflict that drew in Israel.
And in the spring, groups loyal to Assad clashed with government forces and allied armed factions in the coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartus, dominated by the Alawite community. An estimated 1,400 people were killed, and more than 100,000 displaced.
Meanwhile, Christians have also been targeted repeatedly in deadly attacks by militants, with many in the community now saying they want to leave the country.
The elections are doing little to allay minority fears of being shut out of the new Syria, even as the leadership’s Islamist and authoritarian leanings are causing alarm among the Druze, Alawites, Christians, and Kurds, analysts say.
That’s because critics maintain that the current system lacks sufficient participation from minority groups, while concentrating power in the country’s Islamist leaders. Already, the Alawite community has rejected the elections and called for a boycott, the Syrian Observer reported.
“Syria’s legislative reboot is more than an administrative milestone – it is a test of the transitional government’s willingness to embrace pluralism and institutional reform,” wrote the United Kingdom’s Chatham House think tank. “Without genuine transparency and meaningful inclusion, the process risks becoming another top-down exercise that reinforces public cynicism over the government’s attempts to build a new, more pluralist Syria.”
Part of the issue is that since taking over, al-Sharaa has had a long list of issues to address, mainly focused on reconstruction and economic development, and outreach to the international community. So far, he has managed to get numerous international sanctions on Syria and also the US’ terrorist designation on his armed militia lifted, and obtained financial, technical, and energy assistance and billions of dollars in investment pledges to help rebuild Syria’s security infrastructure and reconstruct the country.
Earlier this month, he was the first Syrian leader in almost six decades to take part in the United Nations General Assembly, where he met with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
However, critics say that while international economic support is essential for rebuilding, and that struggling Syrians will eventually lose patience with his government if it can’t restore the economy and jobs quickly, it alone cannot bring unity to Syria or guarantee that another conflict won’t break out.
One new development might, however, give a voice and representation to those minority groups with grievances and a relief value to the country – the burgeoning opposition.
Currently, civil-society activists, including those who long opposed Assad, are building an organized opposition, calling for political reform, including allowing for political parties. As the Economist noted, it is the first stirring of coordinated opposition to the regime, and it just might save the country.
“…in a functioning polity, the opposition can be a stabilizing force rather than a threat,” it wrote. “For fragile, divided Syria, that is the best chance of avoiding another descent into civil war.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Trump’s Gaza Ceasefire Plan Receives Global Support, As Hamas Mulls Acceptance
ISRAEL / WEST BANK & GAZA
Hamas and other Palestinian factions are considering US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, a proposal that drew broad international support even as some observers remain skeptical over its implementation and whether it will guarantee Palestinian statehood, CBS News reported.
On Monday, Trump unveiled a 20-point plan at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has agreed to the proposal, even as he insisted that there will be an Israeli security presence in Gaza for the foreseeable future, contradicting the plan.
The proposal calls for an immediate ceasefire that, once accepted, will see the release of all hostages taken in the Gaza Strip within 72 hours, the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and a sharp increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated enclave.
It will also see the eventual transfer of Gaza’s administration to a technocratic Palestinian interim authority overseen by an international “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Israel would retain perimeter security control, with Netanyahu saying Israeli troops would remain in most of Gaza until the hostages were released. Trump warned Hamas that it had “three or four days” to respond and that rejection would mean Washington giving Israel a free hand to “finish the job.”
Some Hamas officials initially balked at the proposal, which would also require the group to lay down weapons, a demand it has previously rejected. Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office, called the plan an “attempt to impose a new form of guardianship” on the besieged enclave, according to NBC News.
Even so, Hamas said Tuesday it is studying the plan and will issue an official response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Wednesday.
The proposal drew regional and international support and comes as the war in Gaza is reaching its two-year mark early next month.
The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and its allies launched an attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250 others. Israel’s response has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis that has seen tens of thousands displaced, resulted in a famine, and killed at least 66,000 people, according to Gazan health officials.
Muslim-majority nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Indonesia, issued a joint statement praising Trump’s “sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza” and asserting their “confidence in his ability to find a path to peace.”
European leaders also backed the deal and urged Hamas to agree to the plan. Supporters include France and the United Kingdom, which formally recognized Palestinian statehood last month.
The Palestinian Authority also expressed support, while pledging reforms and elections within a year of the war’s end and reiterating support for a “modern, democratic, non-militarized Palestinian state.”
Even so, analysts and Palestinians in Gaza question the plan, with some describing it as lacking guarantees for statehood but others saying any step to stop the bloodshed would be welcome.
Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu told NBC News that the proposal lacked “a single guarantee” for Gazans, arguing it was imposed without their participation. But she conceded that pressure to end the conflict left regional actors with little choice but to welcome it.
Others added that while Trump’s proposal outlines the possibility of Palestinian statehood, it does not guarantee it. Hours after the plan’s announcement, Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to a Palestinian state.
In Israel, the plan also received a mixed reception: Far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition warned that it risks granting concessions to Hamas, but the hostage families welcomed it.
Observers added that many Israelis will likely support the plan as the public has grown weary of the conflict.
In a separate development, Netanyahu on Monday issued a rare apology to Qatar over Israel’s strike on Sep. 9 in Doha. The attack killed a Qatari serviceman during an attempt to target Hamas leaders, which drew global condemnation, Al Jazeera added.
During a joint call with Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Israeli leader expressed “deep regret” over the strike and pledged Israel would not violate Qatari sovereignty again.
Qatar confirmed receiving the apology, which analysts said was a key condition for it to continue mediation efforts.
Eleven Sentenced to Death in China for Scam Activities
CHINA
A Chinese court sentenced 11 ringleaders of a billion-dollar criminal enterprise involving scams, human trafficking, cybercrime, and illegal gambling in northern Myanmar to death, a case that is part of a larger crackdown on the criminal networks Beijing once not only tolerated but supported, the Washington Post reported.
The 11 convicted people sentenced by a court in Wenzhou city late Monday included Ming Guoping and Ming Zhenzhen, the son and granddaughter of the late clan leader Ming Xuechang. Five others involved in the enterprise were handed death sentences with a two-year reprieve, while 12 more were given sentences ranging from five years to life.
The Ming crime family is one of the so-called “four families” of northern Myanmar: These mafia-like crime syndicates are accused of operating vast compounds involved in online fraud, prostitution, and drug production. Many members of these families also hold influential positions in government and in militias aligned with Myanmar’s junta, the CNN wrote.
The Ming family has long been linked with a compound in Kokang, an autonomous region on Myanmar’s border with China. The court found their facilities – where workers were kept against their will and threatened with physical harm if they attempted to leave – generated over $1.4 billion in illicit profits since 2015.
China launched a sweeping crackdown on crime networks in 2023, spurred by the Myanmar junta’s inaction against the scam centers, by years of complaints by the Chinese families of the trafficked, and by rising international scrutiny – the illicit scamming operations spread to Southeast Asia and then globally in recent years.
Meanwhile, an investigation by the Washington Post found that Chinese officials, especially those in southwest Yunnan province, had cultivated ties with the powerful crime families.
At their peak, these families and affiliated armed groups ran more than 300 scam compounds and casinos with tens of thousands of trafficking victims, according to the United Nations. Many were Chinese nationals lured to the border regions with fake promises of well-paid jobs, only to be kidnapped and smuggled into Kokang.
Madagascar’s Government Falls Following Gen Z Protests
MADAGASCAR
Protesters in Madagascar returned to the streets Tuesday even though President Andry Rajoelina dissolved the government a day earlier in a bid to quell youth-led marches against water and power cuts, with demonstrators demanding his resignation, Agence France-Presse reported.
Rajoelina, who had already fired the energy minister last week, sacked the entire government Monday, apologizing for his ministers’ mistakes. He also expressed the intention to create a space for dialogue with the young demonstrators and promised measures to assist businesses affected by looting during last week’s demonstrations, the Guardian added.
However, the decision failed to satisfy protesters, who returned to the streets Tuesday to demand Rajoelina’s resignation as well. Police were deployed in and around the city center and fired tear gas to disperse a small crowd.
According to the president, applications for a new prime minister will come in over the next three days before a new government is formed. In the meantime, those currently in office will act as interim ministers, the BBC noted.
Inspired by the “Gen Z” protests in Kenya, Indonesia, and Nepal, thousands of mostly young protesters have been rallying in cities across Madagascar since last Thursday under the slogan “We want to live, not survive.”
Last week’s demonstrations turned violent as police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd while protesters blocked roads in the capital of Antananarivo with rocks and burning tires. The United Nations said at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in the marches.
The UN’s human rights office blamed the “violent response” by security forces for some of the deaths, with other fatalities due to violence and looting by gangs not linked to the protesters. Meanwhile, Madagascar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the casualty data reported by the UN as “based on rumors.”
The demonstrations are the largest the Indian Ocean island has experienced in recent years and are the most serious challenge yet for Rajoelina – he first came to power in 2009 following a coup – since being reelected in 2023 – in a vote critics say was marred by irregularities.
DISCOVERIES
Life in the ‘Hot Soup’
Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, scientists recently uncovered a colossal hydrothermal system that may even hold clues to the origins of life itself.
Sprawling across 4.3 square miles northeast of Papua New Guinea, Chinese researchers discovered the Kunlun hydrothermal field, a massive undersea system of craters and dolomite walls that rivals anything previously seen.
The field is marked by more than 20 giant depressions, some nearly a mile wide and more than 320 feet deep, formed through explosive eruptions and long-term hydrothermal circulation.
It dwarfs the Atlantic Ocean’s famed “Lost City” vent system – once considered the largest of its kind – and offers a rare look at how Earth’s geology can generate both hydrogen and habitable conditions in the abyss.
“The Kunlun system is unique not just because of the exceptionally high hydrogen flux we observed, but also because of its scale and geological setting,” Weidong Sun, marine geochemist and co-author of the new study, explained in a statement.
Unlike the “black smoker” vents that gush scalding water, Kunlun releases hydrogen-rich fluids at temperatures below 104 degrees Fahrenheit. These mild conditions, combined with its carbonate-rich terrain, create an environment that resembles the alkaline “hot soups” thought to have supported Earth’s earliest microbial life billions of years ago.
“Compared to the carbonate towers formed in the Lost City, these pipes/pits provide a more sustained and stable evolutionary time frame, offering a potentially more suitable environment for the evolution of early life,” the team wrote in their paper, as reported by ScienceAlert.
Using a crewed submersible and advanced seafloor spectroscopy, scientists measured molecular hydrogen concentrations and estimated that the system contributes up to eight percent of the global abiotic hydrogen output from all submarine sources – a huge share for a single site.
“What’s particularly fascinating is the ecological potential,” Sun noted. “We observed diverse deep-sea life thriving in this environment, including shrimp, squat lobsters, anemones, and tubeworms – species that may rely on hydrogen-driven chemosynthesis.”
Beyond its scientific value, researchers say Kunlun may also represent an “ideal target” for tapping deep-sea hydrogen as a potential energy source.