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. The appointments complete the 210-seat People's Assembly, which will be responsible for legislation during the transitional period following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
Fifteen of the new lawmakers are women and 13 were imprisoned during Assad's rule. It is not clear how many are members of religious and ethnic minorities. Last October, regional electoral colleges selected two-thirds of the assembly seats.
After only six seats were won by women and 10 by minority candidates, electoral officials said Sharaa would use his appointments to address the imbalance.
Appointments aim to represent diverse sectors
Mohammed Taha al-Ahmed, chairman of the Higher Committee for the Syrian People's Assembly Elections, said the president's selections combined "the voice of sacrifice and the voice of experience" within the People's Assembly, represented diverse segments of Syrian society, and reinforced national unity.
He said they included "relatives of martyrs and survivors of detention and chemical attacks" during the 13-year civil war, as well as academics, experts, professionals, community leaders and national figures "known for their experience, integrity and public service." Syria TV reported that actress Rouzaina Lazkani was among the appointees.
Ahmed also said the new appointees hailed from all 14 provinces, including two from Suweida, which has a predominantly Druze population. Electoral college polls have not yet been held in Suweida because the southern province has remained outside state control since sectarian fighting last July that killed 1,700 people.
Delays and criticism over electoral process
The polls were also delayed by seven months in parts of the northern provinces of Raqqa and Hassakeh, which government forces captured from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia alliance at the start of this year. More than 20 Kurdish parties rejected the lawmakers who were selected by electoral colleges in May, saying the process revealed "an approach of exclusion and marginalisation."
Fourteen Syrian civil society groups also criticized the electoral system last year, describing it as "plagued by deep structural flaws." They said the president's direct and indirect influence over the membership of the Higher Committee and the electoral colleges rendered the elections symbolic and expressed concern that his power to appoint one-third of parliament members and name replacements would allow him to dominate the institution.
UN official highlights challenges
Last week, UN deputy special envoy Claudio Cordone told the Security Council that Syria's transition was "at a critical phase, with opportunity and fragility existing side-by-side." He said Syria needs the People's Assembly to begin its work and needs all Syrians, particularly women and various components, to feel meaningfully represented.
Cordone noted that the scale of challenges facing the transitional parliament cannot be overstated, adding that new laws need to be debated and adopted, executive actions reviewed, diverse voices heard, and progress made on the transition. He said implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the SDF was moving forward, but warned there had been no progress on confidence-building and reintegration in Suweida, where calls for secession threaten to undermine Syria's unity.
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July 01, 2026
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