CORRECTS - Syria announces results of 1st parliamentary elections since Assad’s fall

CORRECTS BACKGROUND

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) – Syria’s electoral commission announced Monday the official results of the country’s first parliamentary elections since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Nawar Najmeh, a spokesman of the Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections, told a press conference in Damascus that the results for two-thirds of the seats of the People’s Assembly are final and not subject to appeal.

He said President Ahmad al-Sharaa will appoint the remaining third of the seats.

“This process is unrelated to the electoral bodies,” he added.

On Sunday, Syria held an indirect election for its People’s Assembly, the first since the ouster of the Assad regime. Some 6,000 voters were selected from electoral bodies across the country to cast ballots to elect two-thirds of the 210-seat body.

Under the new transitional system, 140 seats were contested through these indirect votes; the president will issue a decree to appoint the other 70 members.