ANKARA
There was low turnout at the Syrian parliamentary elections as candidates were not well known and election campaigns were not very effective.
Under the shadow of ongoing crackdown in the country, security forces urged people, who were not willing to vote, to go to the polls.
Although authorities said there was high participation in the parliamentary elections, Syrian people denied it.
Several said that they were not willing to vote as long as corruption continued.
A polling clerk, Abu Ahmed, said that people did not want to go to the polls. "I am not opponent nor regime supporter, just an independent one. I have stood by ballot box whole day, and the attendance was very low," said Ahmed.
Syrian people firstly demand the operations and bloodshed to stop in the country, stated Ahmed.
Ahmed also said that there was low turnout at the elections in Homs, Idlib as well as Hama and Dera.
Syria held multi-party elections for first time since the adoption of referendum on a new constitution in February that ended the five-decade stranglehold on power of the ruling Baath party.
7,195 candidates registered to stand for the 250 seats against Bashar al-Assad.
Nine parties had been created, and seven had candidates vying for a parliamentary seat.
