The negotiations are aimed at agreeing on a road map to peace, including formation of a transitional government followed by general elections.
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France’s foreign ministry also said that Syria’s parliamentary elections are a “sham” organised by “an oppressive regime”, adding that viable elections could only take place after a political transition and new constitution. People organize a certain rebellion and then they get power. “This will not happen in Syria under any circumstances, even if it means prolonging the war for one hundred years”, he said. “This includes the possibility of establishing a national unity government or a broad government that includes members of the opposition”.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said on Wednesday that the opposition, which is demanding that Assad quit, has to let go of its “dream” of a transitional government, the Associated Press reported.
Jihadists like those from Al-Nusra and the Islamic State group are excluded from the ceasefire.
The new 250-member parliament being chosen Wednesday is expected to serve as a rubber stamp for Assad.
As a fresh round of Syria peace talks kicks off in Geneva, the Assad regime continues to resist the notion of political transition, despite the adoption last December of UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
“Assad is already strong but these elections show that the people support him and bolster him”, said Hadi Jumaa, a 19-year-old student, as he cast his ballot at his university halls of residence in Damascus.
Damascus says the vote, which will only be held in areas controlled by the government, is constitutional and separate from the talks aimed at ending the war.
But the opposition says it contributes to an unfavorable climate for negotiations amid fierce fighting that threatens an increasingly tenuous cease-fire engineered by the United States and Russian Federation.
Critics insist the elections are illegitimate largely because the five-year war has driven millions of Syrians from their homes, leaving them unable to vote.
The U.S.is “very alarmed” by Syrian statements that they are preparing a joint offensive with Russian Federation on rebel-held Aleppo, the most populous city, its ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, said on Tuesday. “I am here to support the Syrian Arab Army”.
“We have been at war for five years but terrorism has failed to reach its main goal, which is to destroy Syria’s social structure and identity as safeguarded in the constitution”, Mr Assad said.
Election sub-committees in government-controlled provinces announced full readiness to facilitate the voting process.
In Syria’s divided second city, Aleppo, polling stations have only opened in the western government-held districts.
The Observatory said dozens of troops and pro-government fighters were killed in Tuesday’s clashes in Aleppo province, without providing precise figures. A spokesman for the Syrian election commission told TASS votes will be counted manually.
Around 7,200 polling stations opened at 7am (12pm Singapore time) in government-held areas – about a third of the country’s territory where about 60 per cent of the population lives. The first results are expected within 48 hours.
As the Geneva talks resumed, de Mistura said the recent fighting in Syria amounted to “incidents, and not a bush fire”.
The previous round ended on March 24 with de Mistura promising to hone in on the divisive question of Syria’s political transition when the warring parties returned to Geneva.
Asaad al-Zoubi, chief negotiator for the main opposition body, the High Negotiations Council. dismissed the polls: “They are illegitimate – theater for the sake of procrastination”.
The two sides do not negotiate directly in the “proximity” talks; instead, de Mistura meets with each side separately and shuttles between them.
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In northern Syria, Turkish artillery shelled Islamic State targets in the Syrian town of Azaz from across the border, after rockets fired from Syria struck a Turkish border town, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
