OREANDA-NEWS. Following the election to the unicameral parliament of Syria held on July 19, the coalition National Progressive Front, led by the incumbent president Bashar al-Assad’s party Ba’ath, won 177 out of 250 seats.

The turnout was 33 %. Unlike the 2016 election, when more than half of the country’s territory was not controlled by the government, this year voting was organized on 70 % of the territory. More than 7 thousand polling stations were opened, but the number of voters was not reported. Syrians living abroad, including refugees, were unable to participate in the election.

The 2020 election is the third since the start of the civil war in 2011. In previous election, the Ba’ath Party and its allies won 200 seats in the national parliament. In 2016, the countries of the European Union did not recognize the results of the election; the United States called it illegitimate. In the current election, as it was in 2016, representatives of the most influential part of the opposition could not take part.