Raqqa Governorate, with part of its geography, is returning to participate in the elections, for the first time since the outbreak of the war in Syria.
This comes amid official and tribal efforts to urge people living in areas controlled by the “Syrian Democratic Forces” to cross over to government-controlled areas, and to participate in the elections.
However, there are indications that the “SDF” may prevent people from crossing the areas under its control to participate in the voting process, and this has begun to appear in the cases of crossing being restricted to students only.
The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper says through its correspondent that tribal, popular and civil activities in the countryside of Raqqa that are under the control of the Syrian government are active in an effort to expand the participation of the people of the governorate in the presidential elections, to include residents of the areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The popular preparatory activities are almost absent from most of the three districts of Raqqa, Maadan, Al-Sabkha and Debsi Afnan, in light of the large numbers of residents of the areas under the control of the “SDF” communicating with government agencies, to facilitate their passage and participation in the elections. Native and official sources expect a wide participation of the people of Raqqa, who were mainly displaced to the city of Hama and its countryside.
The province of Raqqa was completely absent from the presidential elections in 2014, due to ISIS’s complete control over it at that time, with the organization preventing the people from reaching the polling stations in Hama and Hasaka. However – according to the newspaper – the scene differs today, amid the spread of propaganda activity for the candidates noticeably throughout the areas under the control of the Syrian government in the eastern and western countryside, where dozens of electoral tents have been set up, in a scene that suggests the possibility of significant popular participation in the upcoming event.
Social networking sites also showed a remarkable interaction of the people of Raqqa in the areas controlled by the “Qasd”, while other opinions appeared criticizing the holding of the elections before reaching a comprehensive political solution that ends the Syrian crisis.
The governor of Raqqa, Abdul Razzaq Al-Khalifa, affirms that “the governorate has made all the preparations necessary for the elections, while preparing electoral centers, appointing trustees for boxes, and securing the necessary protection for these centers,” pointing out that the governorate provides all necessary facilities to the three candidates, to allow them to practice electoral activity.
The governor expects that “the majority of the residents of the liberated villages and towns spread over an area of six thousand square kilometers, with a population of more than 185 thousand, will participate in the elections,” revealing that the governorate receives “intense contacts that the governorate receives from the areas under the control of the SDF, to facilitate the arrival of the people to government centers to cast their votes.”
However, by saying that “the features of preventing the crossing of the population have begun to appear, through the restriction of crossings at the crossings to students only, which is a negative sign.”
According to the head of the Judicial Subcommittee for Elections in Raqqa, Abd Madah al-Sikh, “94 election centers have been identified in the liberated countryside under government control, while all necessary measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.”
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