ALEPPO, Syria — In a strange scene full of contradiction, President Bashar al-Assad's government held parliamentary elections April 13 in a country that has been crumbling under the weight of shelling, battles and displacement for five years in a row.
The elections were only held in areas controlled by the regime, which according to Omran for Strategic Studies constitute only 17% of Syria's land area, while the Islamic State (IS), Kurdish nationalist Democratic Union Party (PYD) and opposition forces control the rest of the country.