DAMASCUS 22/04/2007 16:13
Agence France Presse
Voting for Syria's new parliament began slowly on Sunday, amid widespread reports of lack of enthusiasm in a poll which opposition activists have urged supporters to boycott.
Only a trickle of voters could be seen heading to polling booths, especially in Damascus and on its outskirts.
In Sabaa Bahrat square in the heart of the capital, young activists lobbying on behalf of their particular candidate outnumbered voters.
The same scene was repeated in the western district of Jdaidet Artuz and the southern Jaramana suburb, where one polling station official told AFP: "It's still early. Voting lasts for two days."
Nearly 12 million Syrians are eligible to vote, according to the official SANA news agency, which also reported that 2,500 candidates were standing for the 250 seats in the assembly.
Last week, commenting on the poll, the official daily Tishrin said: "Except for the candidates, their relatives and those who will profit from this commercial festival, (Syrians) have lost their enthusiasm for the parliamentary elections."
Interior Minister Bassam Abdel-Majid, in a statement on state television, urged Syrians to turn out in force: "Your participation is a contribution to consolidating democracy and activating the role of parliament in drawing up decisions," he said.
In a swipe at Washington which had said Syria's election was unlikely to be free and fair, an official Syrian newspaper said Damascus had never needed "democratic" advice from abroad.
As-Saoura said it was the United States which fought against democracy, recalling its refusal to accept the democratic Palestinian election which resulted in a Hamas government, and later the creation of a national unity government headed by Hamas.
Washington and the European Union view Hamas as a terrorist body and froze aid to the government.
"We do not know who has mandated you (the US) so that you presume to be judges of democracy in the world," it said, pointing to the invasion of Iraq, the US-controlled Abu Ghraib prison there and Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
Syria's two-day election is the second since President Bashar al-Assad came to power in July 2000 and results are likely to be announced on Tuesday.
Voting began at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and ends at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT). On Monday the polling stations will open at 7:00 am and close at 2:00 pm (1100 GMT).
Of the 250 seats, 167 are reserved for the ruling National Progressive Front (NPF) coalition, led by Assad's Baath party. The party itself is guaranteed 131 seats, or 52 percent of the total.
The other 83 seats are allocated to so-called independent candidates "close to the authorities," according to lawyer Hassan Abdel-Azim, spokesman for six banned, but largely tolerated, parties operating under the umbrella National Democratic Rally (NDR).
Abdel-Azim said it was "pointless to take part in an election whose results are known in advance... The NPF will come out the winner", as it has done in all organised elections since 1973.
Opposition hopes of increased democracy were raised, falsely, by the accession to power of Bashar al-Assad in 2000 on the death of his father Hafez, who had ruled with an iron fist.
Late in 2005 opposition parties which are tolerated but have no legal status launched an appeal for "democratic change" in Syria, but the plea failed to bring positive action.
The following May, the authorities jailed 10 opposition figures who had signed a statement seeking reform in the country's relations with Lebanon, where Syria was the power-broker for nearly three decades.
Among other demands, the opposition wants a modern law authorising the creation of parties other than the Baath and its allies, and abrogation of the state of emergency which has been in force since 1963.
The ballot drew scathing comment from the independent Al-Watan newspaper on Sunday.
"The legislative elections have never been covered so much before by the media. In parallel, the elections have never before been so cold-shouldered by the public. Without the electoral posters and photos in the streets, the election would pass unnoticed," it said.
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