MESOP : AN ANALYSIS OF STALINIST METHODS USED BY PYD/PKK IN WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA)

New document: Requirements for candidacy & voting in the municipal elections in March 2015 (KURDWATCH)

KURDWATCH, July 12, 2015—On March 13, 2015, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) carried out municipal elections in the canton of Jazirah. More than one hundred thousand eligible voters reportedly cast their votes. Voter turnout was given as fifty percent. KurdWatch is releasing the requirements for candidacy and voting published by the PYD‑affiliated Hawar news agency. The first striking feature of the document is that the wording is frequently unclear. Essential provisions also run contrary to democratic principles. In other words, regardless of how the elections are actually carried out, these provisions point to significant shortcomings. For example, it remains unclear how the members of the committees that supervise the polling places in an electoral district are selected. The context suggests that they are employees of the PYD-appointed transitional administration. As the document makes clear, all of the election observers at the polling places are also employees of this administration. This is problematic, especially because these employees are almost exclusively PYD sympathizers.

People who are critical of the PYD do not have a chance of being accepted into the administration. Thus none of the organizers at the polling places are politically independent. The fact that the candidates are allowed to have representatives present at the counting of the votes has but a limited impact on this, since only candidates of the PYD and the parties affiliated with it took part in the elections. Moreover, it remains unclear what exactly the roles of the election observers and the representatives of the candidates are. The document gives no indication of their responsibilities and rights.

The possibility of filing an objection against the counting of the votes must also be evaluated critically. Anyone who doubts the results of the election has the right to file an objection with the appellate court in al‑Qamishli by way of the Election Commission. A receipt for a deposit of 100 000 Syrian lira must be enclosed. If the objection is accepted and decided in favor of the petitioner, the amount deposited will be returned to the depositor. Otherwise the amount is retained. At the time of the elections on March 13, 2015, 100 000 Syrian liras were equivalent to about 450 euros. That is more than one and a half times the monthly salary of an elementary school teacher in Syria. As the money is lost if the objection is overruled, the high amount is clearly intended to ensure that objections are never filed.

The procedure for announcing the election results also lacks transparency: The published election provisions only provide for announcing the names of the successful candidates in the individual polling places. That means that merely reading the names could be sufficient. A generally accessible written announcement of the election results, including the votes received by the individual candidates, is not mandatory. In fact, KurdWatch could not find a written announcement of the election results.