How Syria's first elections since autocrat Assad's ouster are expected to unfold

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria is set to hold parliamentary elections on Sunday for the first time since the fall of the country’s longtime autocratic leader, Bashar Assad, who was unseated in a rebel offensive in December .

Under the 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty , Syria held regular elections in which all Syrian citizens could vote. But in practice, the Assad-led Baath Party always dominated the parliament, and the votes were widely regarded as sham elections.