Syria to vote on constitution
DAMASCUS — Syrians are to vote Sunday on a new constitution that could end five decades of single-party rule, although the opposition has called a boycott amid a bloody crackdown on dissent.
The newly proposed constitution was drafted as part of reforms promised by President Bashar al-assad’s government in a bid to calm an 11-month uprising against his regime that began with democracy protests.
It is unclear how the ballot can go ahead in parts of the country hit by violence as government forces move in on protest hubs and rebel strongholds such as the besieged central city of Homs.
But posters and billboards calling on people to vote are displayed across Damascus, with state television airing non- stop programmes from around the country about the new constitution.
“This is the first time that messages are limited to inviting citizens to go to polls without urging them to vote ( yes or no) for the constitution,” Information Minister Adnan Mahmud told AFP.
The opposition has urged voters to stay away and to go on strike, while demanding Assad’s ouster and an end to the crackdown that monitors say has killed more than 7,600 people since March 2011.
“We call for a boycott of the referendum because, by doing this, the regime is trying to hide its crimes,” said the Local Coordination Committees, an opposition activist network that organizes protests.
“We also call for a general strike Sunday throughout the country,” it said in a statement this week.
On a main square in Damascus, Sana Nasser, a woman dressed in military battle fatigues, distributed copies of the new constitution to motorists passing through the busy roundabout.
“The president met with everyone to ask about people suffering, and to get their grievances. It is because of that he has given instructions to draft a new constitution,” said the woman in her forties.