Things I’ve Read 13/10/21

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Reading Time: 2 mins
Section: Daily Rundown
Categories: Category 4
Tags: Iraq Syria Politics

WOD

Detente — The relaxation of strained relations or tensions (as between nations).[1]

Interesting News and Articles

Iraq Elections

Iraq held its parliamentary elections on 10 October with Moqtada al-Sadr winning the largest bloc.

· Notable for first general election since the Fall 2019 protests over corruption and lack of public services among others.

· Election reforms passed on November 2020 created a new voting system called the: single non-transferable vote (SNTV).

​ o Hoped to reduce the role of parties and factions in government which favors individual candidates.

· Low voter turnout: around 34% of eligible voters participated. Official estimates of registered voters stand at around 41%.[2]

Chatham House has a decent overview of the Iraqi election system found here.

Syria

Aside from Jordan reopening its border with Syria this article about Assad being subject to wealthy businessmen because the government is still strapped for cash is interesting. I see too many things on Assad’s complete hold on the country now that power has been centralized within the regime bloc.

​ Since Syria’s economy has been tied to Lebanon’s throughout the past 10 years in reliance to obtaining USD, the importance of the business elite has only increased over the past 2 years due to Lebanon’s economic crisis.

Now with the consolidation of power by Assad its either get in line or leave with an unknown number migrating to Egypt.

Another slightly humorous article posted by Vice about Assad’s cousin riding around with an Israeli actress in LA.

And I figured I’d add the news about Assad’s uncle coming back to Syria to escape jail time in France.[3]

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/d%C3%A9tente

[2] https://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/85555

[3] https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/inside-details-rifaat-al-assads-return-syria