Exclusion of Women in Syria's Parliamentary Elections Highlights Deepening Marginalization

Syria's recent parliamentary elections failed to deliver on President Ahmed al-Sharaa's promise of democracy, with women only winning six seats out of 210 in the parliament. The elections were characterized by a power vacuum created by the decline of Iran's regional influence and the collapse of its allied armed groups, which allowed al-Sharaa's Islamist-led coalition to take advantage and oust Assad's rule.

Despite early signs of potential reform, entrenched patterns of marginalization, particularly of women, continue to shape Syria's politics. The electoral process was deliberately exclusionary, with the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections, composed of nine men and only two women, overseeing the elections. Women were not involved in the process, and instead, ordinary citizens had no direct role in the election.

Key Takeaways:

• The Syrian parliamentary elections resulted in women winning only six seats out of 210, failing to deliver on President Ahmed al-Sharaa's promise of democracy.
• Women's representation in the electoral subcommittees was minimal, with women constituting about 11% of all subcommittee members (18 out of roughly 180 nationwide).
• Women's participation in the election was constrained by institutional barriers, as evidenced by the lack of direct involvement of ordinary citizens and the restrictive electoral structure.
• Minority representation was also limited, with only ten members elected to the parliament belonging to religious or ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Alawites, and Christians.
• Previous research on gender and political institutions has shown that exclusionary electoral structures tend to produce exclusionary outcomes.
• Syrian officials have attributed women's exclusion to cultural attitudes, shifting the blame away from institutional barriers.
• Reversing this pattern requires institutional reform, including gender quotas, increased funding and training for women, and reforming electoral processes to promote transparency and direct voting.

Statistics:

• Women held between 6% and 13% of seats in Syria's parliament from 1981 to the end of Assad's tenure.
• Women constituted about 11% of all subcommittee members (18 out of roughly 180 nationwide).
• Only 18 women out of approximately 180 subcommittee members were selected nationwide.
• Damascus had nearly a third of the registered applicants (44 out of 145) for the electoral college and a third of the local subcommittee members, but no female parliamentarians were elected.
• Religious and ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Alawites, and Christians, won a total of ten seats in the parliament, with Christians holding only two seats.

Sources:

• The Conversation -- Global Perspectives -- By Kinda Alsamara, Lecturer in the School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland
• https://theconversation.com/syrias-new-leader-promised-democracy-then-he-excluded-women-from-parliamentary-elections-267625