Damascus ¨C Local committees in Syria cast their ballots for members of a transitional parliament in a process criticized as undemocratic, with a third of the new lawmakers to be appointed directly by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The assembly¡¯s formation is expected to consolidate the power of al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces led a coalition that toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war.
Members of the local committees queued up to vote at Syria¡¯s National Library, formerly the Assad National Library, with the electoral commission saying in the evening that ¡°the voting has ended and the counting is under way.¡±
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.