Yesterday, President Bashar al-Assad issued Decree No. 216 to set Sunday, September 18th, as the date for the election of local council members.
The decree stated that, based on the provisions of the Local Administration Law issued by Legislative Decree No. 107 of August 23, 2011 and its amendments, and the provisions of the General Elections Law No. 5 of March 24, 2014, Sunday, September 18, 2022, is set as the date for conducting the election of local council members as contained in Article One. of the decree, while the second article stipulates that this decree shall be published in the Official Gazette.
Minister of Local Administration and Environment Hussein Makhlouf confirmed that Decree 216 enshrines the will of every Syrian citizen to hold the elections on time, stressing that everyone is called to make this national benefit a success by choosing energies, cadres, competencies and pumping new blood to draw up a comprehensive service development plan for the next four years.
During press statements he made to the official media, Makhlouf explained that Decree 216 will be published in the Official Gazette today, Thursday, and that the acceptance of candidacy applications will begin the day after its publication, i.e. from the morning of Friday, August 5, until the end of official working hours on Thursday, the 11th, in implementation The Elections Law, which provides for a seven-day period for accepting candidacy applications.
Makhlouf stressed that the Ministry of Local Administration and the governorates is fully prepared and there is a full alert from all concerned authorities that grant documents for candidacy, such as the issuance of a civil registration or an unconvicted document or others, as it has been circulated to continue working, including next Friday, the first day to receive applications for candidates. To make it easier for citizens to accept their candidacies.
He indicated that there are 1,470 administrative units distributed over 14 governorates, 158 cities, 572 towns and 726 municipalities, and 19,086 members will be elected in the various governorates.
He pointed out that Article 39 of the Elections Law No. 5 of 2014 stipulates that those who meet the conditions are entitled to run for office, to have enjoyed the citizenship of the Syrian Arab Republic for at least ten years from the date of submitting the candidacy application, to have completed twenty-five years of age, and to enjoy their civil and political rights. He shall not be deprived from exercising the right to vote and not have been convicted of a felony or a heinous misdemeanour or a breach of public confidence by virtue of a judgment of final degree unless he has been rehabilitated in accordance with the law, where the heinous misdemeanours and breach of public confidence are determined by a decision of the Minister of Justice and that he is a voter in the electoral district in which he nominates or transferring his electoral domicile to it.
For his part, the head of the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections, Jihad Murad, confirmed in a statement to Al-Watan that nomination applications start from the day following the date of publication of the decree in the Official Gazette. Therefore, in the event that the decree is published today, Thursday in the Official Gazette, the submission of nomination applications begins tomorrow, Friday. This is in accordance with Article 144 of the General Elections Law.
Murad explained that the process of submitting nomination applications continues for seven days, pointing out that applications are submitted to the nomination committees that were formed in the governorates, revealing that more than one nomination committee has been formed in most provinces to facilitate citizens wishing to run for nomination by submitting their nomination applications, for example, four committees were formed There are five committees for nomination in Damascus and its countryside, four committees in Aleppo and three committees in Homs.
Murad indicated that the nomination applicant whose application was rejected has the right to object to the decision of the nomination committee before the Judicial Subcommittee within three days at most, starting from the day following the date of announcing the accepted names.
Murad indicated that the committee will be in open meetings from the first day of submitting candidacy applications until the announcement of the election results, as it is concerned with the full supervision of the electoral process.
For its part, the Ministry of Local Administration determined the number of provincial council members at a ratio of one member for every 10,000 people, with no less than 50 members and no more than 100 members.
The decision included that the number of members of local councils in Damascus was 100, while its population reached 1827,189. In its countryside, the decision limited the number of members to 100, with a population of 2,643,407 people.
The resolution included that the number of members in Aleppo was set at 100, while its population was 6,918174, and in Homs also, the number of members was set at 100, and its population was 2571,654, as well as in Hama, the number of members was 100, while its population was 2,623,347.
The resolution pointed out that the number of members in Lattakia is 100 and its population is 14,35,781, as well as in Idlib, the number of members is 100, and its population is 24,20825, while in Tartous, the number of members is 100, and the population is 1,115,106 people.
In Deir ez-Zor the resolution set the number of members at 100 and the population at 2137460, in Hasaka the number of members reached 100 and the population 2533806 and in Raqqa the number of members reached 100 and the population of 1,354,474 people. The population is 575,958. Finally, in Quneitra, the number of members is 60, while the population is 603,988.
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