Ahmed Al-Sharaa Finalizes Syria’s Post-Assad People’s Assembly, Sets July 6 Inaugural Session

Syria’s first post-Assad Parliament took shape Wednesday as interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa finalized the formation of the 210-member People’s Assembly, with the inaugural session scheduled for Monday, July 6.

“Syria’s first post-Assad Parliament takes shape as interim president names 70 lawmakers Syria’s first post-Assad Parliament takes shape as interim president names 70 lawmakers DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The first Parliament in Syria’s post-Assad era took shape Wednesday with the announcement of 70 legislators selected by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the 140 chosen in elections over the past eight months”

AP News

Kurdistan24 said the president named the final 70 members, with 15 women and 55 men, and that 13 of the appointees had previously been held in prison under the toppled Assad government.

AP News

AP reported that the 70 legislators selected by al-Sharaa would join 140 chosen in elections over the past eight months, and that Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, the head of Syria’s electoral committee, told reporters the members will be sworn in Monday.

AP also said the parliament will have a 30-month term and work on a new elections law as Syria moves ahead with drafting new laws while recovering from decades of autocratic rule and a deadly war that killed about half a million people.

Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, 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 and reinforced national unity.

BBC reported that 15 of the new lawmakers are women and that 13 were imprisoned during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, while it said it was not clear how many are members of religious and ethnic minorities.

Arab News PK

The BBC also described backlash from more than 20 Kurdish parties, which rejected lawmakers selected by electoral colleges in May and said the process revealed "an approach of exclusion and marginalisation."

In parallel, BBC said 14 Syrian civil society groups criticized the electoral system last year as "plagued by deep structural flaws," and it quoted UN deputy special envoy Claudio Cordone warning that Syria’s transition was "at a critical phase, with opportunity and fragility existing side-by-side."

As the People’s Assembly prepares to convene, Al Jazeera’s reporting tied the formation to Presidential Decree No. 66 of 2025, which tasked the Higher Committee for the Elections of the People’s Assembly with supervising sub-electoral bodies that elect two-thirds of the council’s members.

“- Published 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”

BBC

Al Jazeera said Article 26 of the Constitutional Declaration states the People’s Assembly holds legislative authority until a permanent constitution is approved and new parliamentary elections are held, specifying the council’s term at 30 months renewable.

BBC reported that Cordone told the Security Council Syria needs the People’s Assembly to begin its work and needs "all Syrians - in particular, Syria's women and its various components - to feel meaningfully represented in it."

BBC added that Cordone said there had been no progress on implementing the roadmap for confidence-building and reintegration in Suweida, warning that underlying issues from sectarian violence remained unresolved and that calls within Suweida for secession threatened Syria’s unity and territorial integrity.