Syria May Hold Parliamentary Elections in First Half of 2016

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said that the parliamentary elections in Syria will be held in the first half of 2016.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — Parliamentary elections in Syria may take place in the first half of 2016, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said.

"We hope that the [parliamentary] elections will be held in the first half of 2016," Mekdad told RIA Novosti.

Commenting on possible presidential elections, the deputy foreign minister stressed that Bashar Assad was largely supported by the Syrian people and that all the statements by some nations on an early presidential election are regarded by the country as "their joining terrorists in order to exert pressure on the Syrian government."

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with Assad fighting against numerous opposition factions and extremist groups.

The West and several Middle Eastern countries do not consider Assad to be the legitimate authority of Syria. In 2011, Washington imposed sanctions against him in the hope that he would step down.

However, in the 2014 Syrian presidential election Bashar Assad won a landslide victory, receiving 88.7 percent of the vote.

In October, international talks on settlement of the Syrian crisis started, bringing together many countries. During the second round of talks in the so-called Vienna format, the negotiators called for elections in Syria to be held within 18 months.