Background

Pursuant to the articles of Law. 107/2011 on Local Administration and its amendments, and the rules of Law No. 5 of 2014 on General Elections Law, the Syrian regime held elections for local administration councils on September 18, 2022. In those elections, we documented a wide range of violations that both stripped the elections of any significance and diminished their legitimacy.

In October 2022, the Syrian regime adopted Law No. 42, shortly after the results of the elections were announced. Essentially, the law consolidated the central authority of the regime and turned the local administration councils into mere administrative apparatuses operated by the central authority. This report tries to explain how that came about, stressing that the Syrian regime has deliberately issued contradictory laws.

Source: Syrian Network for Human Rights