All in all, 89.4% of voters supported the new constitution in a referendum held last Sunday in Syria, RIA-Novosti reports, referring to Reuters. The
turnout was 57.4%, Agence France-Presse reports.
Last Sunday a referendum on a draft new constitution was held in
Syria. The draft abolished the eighth article, which refers to the
leadership of the Ba'ath ("Renaissance") party. The draft proposes the
equality of all political parties.
As noted before by the representative of the Interior Ministry of
Syria, for the first time in the last decade control of the
counting of votes was not carried out by representatives of the Ba'ath
Party.
The director of the Center for Public Policy Research, Vladimir
Yevseev, who recently returned from Damascus, commented on the
situation in Syria after the referendum for "Vestnik Kavkaza." The
expert said that the Syrian authorities are planning to form a
government of national unity in March. "The goal of this government is
to prepare for the parliamentary elections which are planned for late
May - early June."
The expert added that in his opinion the radicals will try to create a
situation of anarchy on the eve of parliamentary elections, to show
everyone that it is impossible to hold elections in these conditions.
He drew a parallel between this possible scenarion and events in
Kyrgyzstan. Tragic events took place in the south of Kyrgyzstan,
Osh, but the government still held elections because it needed
legitimation. The expert believes that there will be a similar
situation in Syria.
Yevseev said that the opposition failed to derail the referendum on
the constitution because the Syrian army has achieved some success.
