In Syria, the formation of the first post-Assad parliament began. The process, criticized for the lack of democracy
The interim president of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, visits a polling station in Damascus. Photo: Louai Beshara / AFP / Profimedia
Local committees started in Syria on Sunday to designate some of the members of the first post-Assad Parliament, in a process criticized for lack of democracy, one third of future members being appointed by the AHMAD AL-Shareh interim president, AFP reports.
The formation of this Parliament would consolidate the power of Ahmad Al-Shareh, at the head of an Islamist coalition that overturned Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, after 13 years of civil war.
The final list of the designated ones will be announced on Monday.
Two provinces in the northeast of Syria, under the control of the Kurds, as well as the Sweida province with a majority Druza, the scene of recent violence, are excluded from this process. Thus, 32 mandates out of a total of 210 will remain vacations.
The future Parliament will have a mandate of two and a half years, renewable, and will count 140 members designated by local committees formed by the electoral commission appointed by Shareh and 70 appointed by the interim president.
According to the electoral commission, 1,578 candidates, of which only 14% will be women, will be designated by almost 6,000 people.
The designation process is criticized by organizations of civil society, which denounces an excessive concentration of power in the president's hands and a lack of representativeness of the ethnic and religious components of the country.
The new Parliament will exercise the legislative functions until the adoption of a permanent constitution and the organization of new elections, according to the constitutional declaration proclaimed in March.
