Syria announces parliamentary elections results

The Syrian higher electoral committee announced on Saturday evening the results of the parliamentary elections, which were held on April 13.

The turnout was estimated at 57.56 percent, as out of 8,834,994 eligible voters, 5,085,444 have voted, said the committee.

Syria's parliamentary elections began on Wednesday, with some 3,500 candidates vying for the 250 parliamentary seats amid a boycott by opposition groups.

A total of 7,300 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) in government-controlled areas across the country.

In the capital Damascus alone, there are about 1,500 polling centers in addition to 540 polling stations for people from the provinces of Deir al-Zour, al-Raqqa, Idlib, Aleppo, and Daraa, which are largely not controlled by the government.

In February, President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree to hold a parliamentary election on April 13.

The Syrian government said the elections are set for the usual time as Syrian government holds such elections every four years.

The last parliamentarian elections were held in 2012, just months after the adoption of a new constitution in the war-torn country.

In the current and the last elections, the opposition announced a boycott.

Source: XINHUA