US denounces Syria's parliamentary elections as a 'sham'

Elections were held on July 15 for the fourth time since the civil war began in 2011

A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Syria's northern city of Aleppo. AFP

The US accused Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's government on Monday of manipulating his country's parliamentary elections and condemned the vote as a “sham”.

During a monthly Security Council briefing on the political and humanitarian situation in Syria, deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, criticised the elections, asserting they lacked freedom and fairness.

“These so-called elections were merely a rubber stamp on [President] Bashar Al Assad's continued dictatorship,” Mr Wood stated.

“We will not legitimise electoral manipulation designed to create a facade of legitimacy and normality.”

Syria held the elections on July 15, for the fourth time since the civil war began in 2011.

The poll excluded areas in the north-west and north-east, which are controlled by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Despite the continuing conflict, widespread displacement and economic deterioration, Mr Al Assad has rejected any change to the political status quo.

Mr Wood said lifting sanctions or other assistance from the US would not take place without a viable political process.

Last week, Syria announced that all 185 candidates from Bashar Al Assad’s Baath party won parliamentary seats in the country’s elections, a seven-seat increase to the party’s majority.

The UN’s special envoy to Syria, Geir Pederson, told council members the elections are not a “substitute” for the political process established by the Security Council, which “envisages the holding of credible and inclusive elections pursuant to a new constitution and administered under UN supervision”.

Mr Pederson warned that the country remains in a “state of profound conflict, complexity and division”.

He said the threat of terrorism is “resurging” with attacks by Islamic State extremists set to double this year, endangering civilians already subjected to “extensive human rights abuses, a protracted state of displacement and dire humanitarian conditions.”

“Syria is riddled with armed actors listed terrorist groups, foreign armies and front lines,” Mr Pederson added.

Nearly a half million people have died in the conflict and half the country’s prewar population of 23 million has been displaced.

The special envoy who warned the Council of Syria’s delicate security situation, noted that the threat of regional conflict spilling over Syria has “not abated”, particularly with a rise in Israeli strikes on the country.

Israel has attacked targets in Syria linked to Iran for years, but the strikes have escalated over the past five months as the war in Gaza and conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border continue.

Iranian ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani condemned Israeli "continued aggressions" against Syria and said they “flagrantly violate international humanitarian law” and are a “serious threat to regional peace and security.”

"This regime with its nature and essence based on terror and aggression is a main source of insecurity and instability in the region and beyond," he said.

Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, reminded the council that Syria continues to suffer its worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the conflict more than 13 years ago.

He warned that “severely reduced humanitarian funding” exacerbated Syrians’ suffering during months of extreme heat, when rainwater dries up and a lack of basic sanitation infrastructure increases the risk of water-borne diseases.

More than 16 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country, the UN estimates.

Mr Rajasingham welcomed the Syrian government’s decision to extend permission for the UN to use the Bab Al Hawa border crossing to deliver humanitarian assistance for an additional six months, until January 2025.

This is the second such extension for Bab Al Hawa since February 2023, when Damascus first permitted the UN to conduct cross-border operations into north-west Syria.