New parliamentary elections will be postponed in three provinces for security reasons, an election commission official said on August 23.
Parliamentary elections in Syria - the first since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power over eight months ago - were initially scheduled to be held from September 15 to 20.
But the spokesman for the high electoral commission, Hassan al-Daghim, said that voting would be postponed in the southern province of Suwayda, as well as in the provinces of al-Hassakeh and al-Raqqa due to "security challenges."
Last month, Suweida – a stronghold of Syria's Druze minority – experienced deadly sectarian violence.
The provinces of al-Hassake and al-Raqqa are under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces militias, which have tense relations with the government in Damascus.
Al-Daghim, speaking to Dpa, did not give a new date, but said that elections in these three provinces will be held when circumstances allow.
Earlier this week, Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, ratified a decree establishing a temporary electoral system that would give him the power to appoint one-third of the 210-member assembly. The remaining two-thirds would be elected by voters.
Commanding an alliance of Islamist-led rebels, al-Sharaa ousted al-Assad from power in December last year. The former Syrian president fled the country for Russia.
In January, the new administration dissolved the Parliament, which had been dominated by al-Assad's Baath Party.
In March, al-Sharaa approved an interim Constitution establishing a five-year political transition period.
Since the fall of al-Assad, Syria's new leadership has been seeking international recognition and seeking economic support to rebuild the country devastated by more than a decade of civil war. REL
