Syria’s ruling Baath party won an expected majority in parliamentary elections this week, results showed Thursday, with participation under 40 percent at the fourth such poll since civil war erupted in 2011. The exiled opposition had criticised the vote as illegitimate, with the election going ahead on Monday without the participation of Syrians living abroad or outside government-held areas. Regime leader Bashar al-Assad’s Baath party – in power since 1963 – and its secular left-wing and Arab nationalist allies were running virtually unopposed for the 250 seats. Jihad Murad, head of Syria’s S…