Kurds opt out of first local elections since ’11
Baath, in power since 1960s, likely to sweep
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria held its first municipal elections since 2011 on Sunday, amid tensions with the country’s self-administered Kurdish region, which refused to allow polls.
Candidates campaigned on promises to promote reconstruction after seven years of civil war left cities and towns in ruins.
“We hope we can meet the people’s aspirations and improve conditions and services in the city,” said Hassan Taraqji, a Baath party candidate in Damascus.
The Baath party, which has controlled Syria’s political and security apparatuses since the 1960s, was expected to sweep the elections.
The war waged by President Bashar Assad’s government against local opposition forces and the Islamic State group has cost the country more than $300 billion in economic damage, according to a recent U.N. study. Observers say more than 400,000 people have been killed.
But parts of the country remain beyond Damascus’ reach, including the U.s.-backed self-administered Kurdish region in north Syria, which also includes Arab and minority populations.
The region is governed by its own Syrian Democratic Council, which refused to allow the Damascus-organized elections to proceed on its territory.
“The regime wants us to remain under its rule and under the rule of the Baath,” said Ibrahim Ibrahim, a spokesman for the administration.
Kurdish officials say they want a federalized Syria that respects the northeast’s autonomy from Damascus and guarantees rights and privileges for national minorities.
High-level meetings between representatives of the SDC and Baath and federal officials in Damascus are yet to produce a breakthrough.
Damascus insists it will assert its authority over the whole country.
Polls were slated to close at 7 p.m. local time, but authorities extended voting until midnight. Sunday is the first day of the workweek.