Syria delays parliamentary vote in Sweida after sectarian violence

News Desk | August 24, 2025 | Breaking News, International | Follow on Google News

Syria delays parliamentary vote in Sweida after sectarian violence

Aug 24 (Reuters) – Syria’s first parliamentary election under its new Islamist administration, scheduled for September, will not include the southern province of Sweida and two other provinces due to security concerns, the electoral commission said on Saturday.

Hundreds of people were reported killed in July in clashes in Sweida pitting Druze fighters against Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces were sent to the city to quell the unrest.

Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said were mass killings of Druze by government troops.

The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and there is longstanding tension between the communities over land and other resources.

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The main Druze factions that control the province have labelled President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government as extremist and resisted the deployment of government troops, saying they want to run their own security.

Next month’s ballot will also be delayed in the northern Hasaka and Raqqa provinces – parts of which are mostly controlled by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces – until there is a “safe environment”, state media quoted the electoral commission as saying.

Seats allocated to the three provinces will remain vacant until elections can be held there, a spokesperson for the Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections told SANA news agency.