Syria’s president appoints the last 70 lawmakers in the new Assad parliament
Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed the final 70 members of the country’s new parliament, paving the way for it to hold its first session next week.
Fifteen of these new lawmakers are women and 13 were arrested during the rule of Bashar al-Assad who was overthrown in 2024. It is not clear how many are members of religious and ethnic minorities.
Last October, regional electoral colleges elected two-thirds of the 210-seat People’s Assembly, which will deal with the law during the transition period.
After only six seats were won by women and ten by male candidates, election officials said Sharaa would use her nomination to redress the imbalance.
Mohammed Taha al-Ahmed, the chairman of the Supreme Election Committee of the Syrian People’s Assembly, said that the election of the president combined “the voice of sacrifice and the voice of experience” within the People’s Assembly, represented the various parts of the Syrian society, and strengthened national unity.
They include “relatives of martyrs and survivors of imprisonment and chemical attacks” during the 13-year civil war, as well as academics, professionals, experts, community leaders and national figures “known for their knowledge, integrity and public work”, he added.
Syria TV said actress Rouzaina Lazkani is among the nominees.
Ahmed also said that the nominees came from all 14 provinces, including two from Suweida, which has a large Druze population.
Electoral college voting has not been held in Suweida because the southern province remains outside government control since 1,700 people were killed in sectarian fighting between government forces, Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze militias last July.
“If the conditions are ready to hold elections in this beautiful and blessed state, God willing, we will hold elections there,” said Ahmed.
Voting was also delayed by seven months in parts of the northern provinces of Raqqa and Hassakeh, which government forces captured from the Kurdish Democratic Forces (SDF)-led coalition earlier this year.
More than 20 Kurdish groups rejected the lawyers appointed by the electoral colleges in May, saying the process exposed “a pattern of discrimination and discrimination”.
Fourteen Syrian civil society organizations also criticized the electoral process last year, describing it as “plagued by deep structural flaws”.
They said the president’s direct and indirect influence over the membership of the Supreme Committee and the electoral colleges made this election a landmark.
And they expressed concern that the president’s power to appoint one-third of the members of parliament and appoint a successor to anyone who loses office will allow him to run an institution that is supposed to be independent and in line with the will of the people.
Last week, the UN’s deputy special envoy Claudio Cordone told the Security Council that the Syrian revolution is “at a critical stage, with opportunities and weaknesses that coexist”.
“Syria needs the People’s Assembly to start its work. And it needs all the Syrian people – especially, the women of Syria and its various parts – to feel represented in it,” he said.
He added: “The scale of the challenges facing this reform parliament cannot be overstated. New laws need to be discussed and adopted, administrative measures need to be reviewed, different voices need to be heard, and progress made on reform.”
Cordone said the implementation of the cease-fire agreement between the government and the SDF is progressing, as four SDF officers integrated into the government army receive state salaries and 1,300 SDF prisoners have been released.
But he warned that there was no progress in the implementation of the confidence-building and rehabilitation guide in Suweida.
He said the issues that contributed to the sectarian violence had not been resolved, including accountability measures, and that calls within Suweida for secession threatened to undermine Syria’s unity and territorial integrity.
