Hassan Al-Dughaim, a member of Syria’s Supreme Election Committee, confirmed that anyone who supported the former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in any form of support will be excluded from candidacy or voting in the upcoming People’s Assembly elections scheduled for October 5.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, in response to a question about the position of former regime members regarding the electoral entitlement, Al-Dughaim said, “Anyone proven to have supported the former regime with weapons, money, or opinion, or who was a member of the People’s Assembly or a leader in parties supporting the former regime, has been banned from candidacy, election, and voting.”

Regarding the role of military and security institutions and their members in the electoral process, the spokesperson clarified that “any member of the Ministry of Defense or Ministry of Interior is not entitled to run or be a member of the electoral bodies. The executive authority’s task, especially the Ministry of Interior, is limited to securing the lives of candidates and voters and ensuring the safety of the electoral process without any interference.”

As for the election campaign mechanism given the indirect nature of the elections, Al-Dughaim pointed out that “campaigns will be limited to the electoral body, within which debates and meetings can be held, and simple campaigns can be conducted within the candidate’s registration area, but not at the governorate or national level.”