China hopes Syria vote can advance political reforms

China hopes the parliamentary election in Syria will help to advance its political reform process, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The vote, initially scheduled for September 2011, began on Monday morning across Syria, which has been swept by unrest since March last year.

"We have noticed that Syria will hold parliamentary elections," spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular news briefing, "currently, there is an important opportunity for a political solution to the Syrian issue".

China wishes all parties concerned to implement their commitment to a ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops, and carry out relevant Security Council resolutions and the six-point proposal laid out by Kofi Annan, and actively support the UN observation group to further easing tension and promoting political solutions, he said.

A total of 7,195 candidates have registered to stand for the 250 seats, state news agency SANA said.

"I am voting because I support the reforms, but the new parliament needs to tackle unemployment as a priority so that young Syrians don't emigrate," said Shahba Karim, 18, after casting her vote in central Damascus.

"I think these elections will bring a definitive end to the crisis."

However, the opposition has dismissed the vote as a sham and a ploy by the government to buy time and to dupe the international community into believing the regime is serious about reforms.

"Whoever drowns Syria in blood, displaces two million Syrians and shoots at the Syrian people, does not have the legitimacy to draw up a constitution, an electoral law, or to run elections," the Syrian National Council, an exile umbrella opposition organization, said in a statement

AFP contributed to the story