Syrian parliamentary elections kick off amid Assad participation

A voter casts his ballot in the Syrian parliamentary elections held in Damascus, capital of Syria, on July 19, 2020. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

Syria has startedparliamentary elections, its third such elections during more than nine-year-long war.

DAMASCUS, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The parliamentary elections in Syria kicked off on Sunday, the third elections during the more than nine-year-long war, amid the participation of President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma.

A total of 7,277 polling stations opened across the government-controlled areas on Sunday as voters are having the chance to vote for 1,656 candidates for the 250-seat parliament.

Both the president and his wife were seen wearing masks and casting their ballots at a polling center in the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

The Syrian government now controls around 70 percent of the Syrian territory while ultra-radical rebels control the Idlib Province in northwestern Syria and the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control areas in northeastern Syria.