Syria delays elections in Sweida and two Kurdish-held areas

Election commission says postponement in those areas is due to security concerns

Syrians in Zamalka mark the anniversary of a chemical weapons attack carried out by Bashar Al Assad's forces in 2013. AP

Syria's parliamentary election, the first to take place since the downfall of former president Bashar Al Assad, is to go ahead next month without the involvement of the Druze-majority province of Sweida and two Kurdish-held areas due to security concerns.

The Higher Committee for People's Assembly Elections said the ballot would be delayed in the northern provinces of Hasakah and Raqqa, as well as Sweida, until a "safe environment" is in place, state news agency Sana reported.

Seats allocated to the three provinces will remain vacant until elections can be held there, commission spokesman Nawar Najmeh told the agency.

Hundreds of people were killed in Sweida last month in clashes involving Druze fighters, Bedouin tribesmen and government forces. Israel also intervened with strikes, claiming its attacks were to protect the Druze. But experts at the time warned Israel was exploiting the violence to fuel instability in Syria.

After toppling Mr Al Assad in December, Syria's government, now led by President Ahmad Al Shara, dissolved the Assad-era parliament and adopted a temporary constitution for a five-year transition.

The interim charter has been criticised for concentrating power in his hands after decades of autocracy under Mr Al Assad and for failing to reflect Syria's ethnic and religious diversity.

The parliamentary election is planned for between September 15 and 20. Appointed local bodies will pick two thirds of the 210 legisdlators, while Mr Al Shara will name the rest.

The planning for the first election under the government comes after waves of violence in Alawite and Druze areas of the country, and amid concerns of fighting in the Kurdish-held region. Parts of Syria remain outside of government control, with much of the north-east coming under the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Implementation of a March 10 deal on integrating Kurdish institutions into those of the central government has been held up by differences between the two sides.

The Kurdish-led administration issued a statement calling the parliamentary selection process "a superficial step that does not respond to the demands for a comprehensive political solution that Syrians need".

It also denounced the decision to delay the vote in some areas. "Any decision taken through this approach of exclusion will not concern us, and we will not consider it binding for the peoples and regions of northern and eastern Syria," it added.