Universal Declaration of Human Rights-Article 21:
- Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
- Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in their country.
- The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Syrian society has not experienced a real electoral process because of the lack of political pluralism under the dominance of the one-party system of the Ba’ath party. The elections in Syria over the past decades were limited to referenda. Syrians do not have the freedom to choose their representatives in parliament or in the government. In other words, Syrian society has not witnessed any transparent and fair elections, and there is no electoral law that allows everyone to participate effectively in elections.
CCSD’s Election Program aims to instill a culture of integrity and raise awareness about the importance of elections. It also seeks to empower Syrian civil society, institutions and individuals, through the practice of fair and transparent democratic elections within government bodies and CSOs, and through training of NGOs in monitoring electoral processes. More than 15 CSOs and roughly 10 local councils have participated along with more than 2,500 male and female community leaders. Two electoral processes were also monitored.