Local Administration councils elections start in democratic atmosphere
Syria, Politics, 6/23/2003

Citizens across Syria yesterday began to exercise their right to vote at the 657 balloting centers to elect representatives to the Local Administration Councils in a free and democratic atmosphere.

The Ministry of Local Administration has already taken all the procedures to ensure honest elections as well as equal opportunities for all the candidates. These elections constitute the 8th term of the governorates' councils, and the 6th term of the cities and towns, as well as the second term of the villages councils. Competing for 8560 council seats are 23966 candidate, including 1224 seats of the governorates council, 2324 seats of the cities councils, 2942 of the towns councils and 2070 seats of the villages councils.

Following his voting at a Syrian Private High School in Aleppo, Speaker of the People's Assembly, Naji Otari told reporters that the local administration is considered as one of the most important achievements under the Glorious Correctionist Movement. He stressed the necessity to strengthening the democratic experience by the election of the representatives who are capable of pursuing the development process in line with the most advanced methods.

He pointed out that the current elections are a true reflection of President Bashar al-Assad's directives. Prime Minister Mohammad Moustafa Miro voted at Martyr Fayez Jamous High School in al-Tal town near Damascus.

Meanwhile, Minister of Local Administration Helal al-Atrash and Damascus Governor Ghassan Laham toured a number of the balloting centers where they inspected the mechanism and progress of the election process. In a statement to reporters, the minister underlined that such elections came in the light of the current development in Syria on all levels under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad. He indicated the elections of the Local Administration represent the confidence of citizens in the democratic march, and reflect their care to elect the most qualified candidates to the councils. Similarly, the elections process in the rest of the Syrian governorates went smoothly and vigorously, and the women presence in these elections has been strong and characterized by the expertise of the candidates.

Previous Stories:
  Syrian communist parliamentarian calls for political parties law   (6/19/2003)
  Al-Assad interview with Al-Arabia TV discuss internal and foreign policy issues   (6/11/2003)
  New Syrian parliament speaker seeks political role for parliament   (3/10/2003)

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