DAMASCUS, Syria — A precarious calm descended on the Syrian capital for the first time in five years after a cease-fire agreement went into effect Feb. 27 at midnight. The cease-fire crowned a deal brokered by the United States and Russia, opening the way for political negotiations. The calm stood in stark contrast to political tensions between Syria and Russia and the opposition's anger following President Bashar al-Assad's announcement Feb. 22 for parliamentary elections to be held April 13.

Assad's call for elections, coming hours after announcement of the cease-fire agreement, contradicted the agreement's planned phases for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Feb. 24 that Russia will “vigorously” insist that elections take place with the consent of both the opposition and the government after the adoption of a new constitution. “I would like to emphasize that Russia is fully committed to the agreements on the content and stages of the political process of resolving the Syrian crisis in accordance with the decisions of the International Syrian Support Group (ISSG) and Resolution 2254 of the UN Security Council,” the TASS news agency quoted Zakharova as saying.

Zakharova's statement prompted the Syrian government’s media adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, to address the issue with the Russian media Feb. 24 during a Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Moscow. “The parliamentary elections in Syria are being held in compliance with the constitution. They are a constitutional procedure with which the government must proceed,” Shaaban said according to SANA, the official Syrian news agency. The constitution requires that elections be held every four years, the previous balloting taking place in 2012.

Among the Syrian opposition, some groups support holding elections, while many oppose it. The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has not issued an official statement on the matter. Hassan Abdel Azim, general coordinator of the opposition National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCC), told Al-Watan on Feb. 24, “The election decree is a wrong step taken at the wrong time and is not in line with the US-Russian agreement and the international community’s efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis politically. The coordinating committee will not participate in these elections.”