Syria has conducted its first parliamentary elections on Sunday, marking a significant step in the nation’s post-conflict transition almost a year after a rebel-led offensive ousted longtime autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad.
The newly established People’s Assembly will be tasked with the crucial responsibility of formulating a new electoral law and constitution, guiding the country through its political evolution following more than a decade of devastating civil war.
Security forces were deployed extensively around polling stations nationwide. The voting process itself involved electoral college members filling out ballots with lists of names, which were then sealed and publicly counted before candidates, journalists, and observers from the Syrian bar association.
Crucially, these elections bypassed a direct popular vote. Two-thirds of the 210-member assembly will be elected via province-based electoral colleges, with seats allocated by population. The remaining one-third will be directly appointed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. This new parliament is set to serve a 30-month term, preparing for future polls.
In theory, 7,000 electoral college members across 60 districts are eligible to vote for 140 seats, but elections were postponed indefinitely in Sweida province and in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces due to tensions between the local authorities and Damascus.
“There are many pending laws that need to be voted on so that we move forward with the process of building and prosperity,” Mr Sharaa said in a speech after he was briefed on the election process at the National Library Centre, where the polling took place in Damascus.
“Building Syria is a collective mission, and all Syrians must contribute to it,” Mr Sharaa added.
Damascus candidates and voters weigh responsibility in first transitional election
Critics argue the elections fall short of full democracy, noting that the electoral college system may favour well-connected candidates, consolidating power within the interim government. Initial results Sunday evening showed few women and minorities winning seats. But for others, the election was a sign of progress.
In Damascus, 490 candidates competed for 10 seats, with 500 voters in the electoral college.
When approached by election officials to join the electoral college, Lina Daaboul, a doctor in Damascus, said she initially refused, fearing the responsibility and the “ugly image” of past assemblies. But after learning she’d only be part of the voting body, she agreed, calling it “a national duty”.
She took her role seriously.
“I studied the profiles of many candidates and attended meetings. I didn’t stop there. I called people to ask about the candidates, their histories and what others thought of them,” she said.
On election day, she said, “This is the first time I’ve ever voted in my life. I’m happy, and I don’t mind standing in line for a long time.”
Participants highlight greater freedom compared with elections under Assad
The interim authorities say a popular vote is impossible now due to the displacement of citizens during the country’s civil war and the loss of documents.
Lara Eezouki, a member of the national elections committee in Damascus, noted that the new assembly includes all sects and groups and said it’s “the first time in Syria’s history that the ballot box truly rules – when the results are not prearranged”.
Comparing elections under Assad to those today, Rim Yajizi, a lawyer, member of Damascus’s electoral body and candidate for the People’s Assembly, said, “It’s enough to mention the freedom factor, the electoral statements and the debates we watched and participated in. We had never seen anything like it before.”
At Al-Nasr Amphitheatre in Aleppo, 220 candidates competed for 14 seats, with 700 voters in the electoral college.
“This is the first time in our lives we’ve participated in a democratic electoral process without outside pressure,” said Ibrahim Halabi, 33, from Aleppo, a former soldier under Assad’s rule who defected in 2012 after mass anti-government protests met by a brutal crackdown spiralled into civil war in 2011.
Sunni candidates win in Latakia amid lingering tensions
In Latakia city, a former Assad stronghold and home to a large Alawite community, three Sunni candidates won the vote. In March 2025, sectarian revenge attacks killed hundreds of Alawite civilians along Syria’s Mediterranean coast in Latakia and Tartus provinces after armed groups affiliated with Assad attacked security forces of the new government.
“All those who said that the situation in Latakia was good (before) are wrong,” said Rola Daya, one of the newly elected legislators. “Of course, internal tensions remain – it will take time to resolve. Transitional justice is needed so we can move toward civil peace.”
Daya said she played a logistical role in the Syrian uprising and remained in Syria until her identity was discovered, prompting her to flee.
She said she felt “the weight of responsibility grow even larger” after she won.
“We need to work to devise legislation and laws that serve our society and our people,” she said.
Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Abby Sewell in Latakia and Omar Albam in Aleppo contributed
