Syrians in government-held areas headed to the polls on Monday to elect a new parliament, a vote expected to yield few surprises and labeled a farce by political opposition groups.
Voters were electing 250 lawmakers to parliament, which has little real power in Syria's presidential system, with two-thirds of seats reserved for members of President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party.
More than 13 years after the onset of the Syrian civil war, Assad's government controls most of Syria after Iran and Russia helped him beat back rebel groups. The north-east remains held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, and Islamist and Turkish-backed rebels hold parts of the north-west, while more than 5 million Syrians are refugees abroad and unable to vote.
The country's economy remains in dire straits with high inflation and little foreign investment amid Western sanctions and a stalled U.N.-led process meant to find a political solution to the conflict.