Syria’s Presidential election will be held in 2021. There is already speculation about the legitimacy of these elections – the fact that half the country’s population is still displaced notwithstanding. The international community hopes to see the Constitutional Committee produce new electoral laws that will help to put Syria on the right track and perhaps advance the diplomatic path for ending the almost 10 year conflict. President Assad and his State sponsors Russia and Iran support the upcoming election in 2021 regardless of the work of the Constitutional Committee and would prefer the current laws which favor President Assad’s capacity to remain in power (at least on paper).

In our paper -which was based on an intensive discussion with experts- we discuss the challenges of any upcoming election in terms the logistics involved given the conflict dynamics on the ground, and what framework could be used to ensure a transparent election could occur.