Syria’s Kurds reject transitional parliament as undemocratic amid postponements

Syria’s Kurds condemned the forthcoming selection of members of a new transitional parliament as undemocratic on Sunday, after authorities postponed the process in Kurdish-controlled territories in the north and northeast.

After deposing long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Syria’s administration dissolved parliament and approved a five-year transitional constitution.

The selection of a transitional parliament is scheduled for September. Two-thirds of the 210 lawmakers will be chosen by appointed local authorities, with the remaining seats named by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

However, an election commission official announced on Saturday that the procedure would be postponed in Druze-majority Sweida province as well as Kurdish-held Raqa and Hasakeh provinces, citing “security challenges” and stating that it could only take place in “territories controlled by the state”.

The Kurdish administration in the north and northeast said in a statement that “defining our regions as unsafe” was carried out “to justify the policy of denial for more than five million Syrians” in the area.

“These elections are neither democratic nor express the will of Syrians in any way,” it said.

“They simply represent a continuation of the approach of marginalisation and exclusion that Syrians suffered over the past 52 years under the Baath regime” of the Assad dynasty, it added.

It warned that “nearly half of all Syrians” would be excluded from the process, including due to displacement.

The interim constitution has been criticised for concentrating power in Sharaa’s hands after decades of autocracy and for failing to reflect Syria’s ethnic and religious diversity.

The Kurdish administration called the parliamentary selection process “a superficial step that does not respond to the demands for a comprehensive political solution that Syrians need”.

“Any decision taken through this approach of exclusion will not concern us, and we will not consider it binding for the peoples and regions of northern and eastern Syria,” it added.

Damascus and the Kurds have been in talks on implementing a March 10 deal on integrating Kurdish institutions into those of the central government.

Implementation has been held up by differences between the two sides.

The Kurds have called for decentralisation, which Damascus has rejected.

Druze-majority Sweida province saw deadly sectarian clashes last month, with access to the province still difficult and the security situation tense.