Syria parliament holds first session since Assad ousted
Syria’s new parliament convened for the first time 19 months after rebels led by President Ahmed al-Shara overthrew Bashar al-Assad, a turning point in the country’s political transition despite the parliament’s current limited powers.
In a speech to parliament in Damascus, Sharaa told MPs to “make this council a model of responsibility and competence” and described it as “a platform for truth and justice”.
“Syria is writing a glorious history that reflects its heroism, and we face the responsibility of building both the nation and the individual,” he said.
The parliament is seen as a test of Sharaa’s promise to establish an inclusive new order in Syria, which has been ruled for decades by the autocratic Assad family and has a legislature seen as a stamp of approval.
Under the country’s interim government regulations, two-thirds of the members of the 210-seat parliament were elected by regional election boards last year, while Sharaa named the remaining third member on July 1.
Officials said the system was necessary because years of war had displaced millions and made it impossible to rely on accurate population records or voter lists.
Critics say this gives the executive branch extensive control over the election process.
Sharaa said he supported holding general elections when infrastructure and documentation allowed.
An interim constitutional declaration that comes into force in 2025 gave parliament limited powers and the government does not need to obtain a vote of confidence in parliament.
The People’s Assembly can propose and approve laws.
It has a renewable 30-month term and assumes legislative power until a permanent constitution is adopted and elections are held.
Abdul Halim al-Avak, a member of the committee that prepared the constitutional declaration, was elected president with 99 votes.
Awak, who is from the northeastern province of Hasakah, served as a judge in the Ministry of Justice for a decade, according to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency.
Reports indicate that he was among many Syrian officials who left the Assad government and went to Türkiye in the early days of the uprising.
Sharaa said the parliament will be tasked with forming a committee to draft a new constitution.
Sharaa, a former jihadist militant, reshaped Syria after toppling Assad; He established close relations with the United States and European countries and promised a new era of freedoms; but his first year in power was rocked by several incidents of violence in which pro-government fighters confronted members of minority groups.
There are 21 female MPs in parliament, 15 of whom were among those nominated by Sharaa, who cut ties with Al Qaeda in 2016.
Authorities did not release a breakdown of how many MPs came from ethnic and religious minorities.
Unofficial statistics showed that 10 of the seats elected last year belonged to religious and ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Christians and Alawites, to which Assad belongs.
Four of the seats are vacant because a member of parliament died, and the other three seats reserved for the Druze-majority Sweida province have not yet been filled.
The election of Sweida MPs has been postponed until “conditions become suitable”, officials said.
The region has remained out of state control since government forces and allied fighters clashed with the Druze last July, killing about 1,700 people, according to the United Nations.
with AP
