DAMASCUS: Syria is set to hold the selection process for a transitional parliament on October 5, in accordance with a constitutional declaration announced earlier this year, the electoral commission said on Sunday.

The People’s Assembly of Syria was dissolved by the country’s new Islamist authorities who seized power after ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive last December.

The upcoming legislature, which will serve for a five-year transitional period, will comprise 210 lawmakers — 140 designated by local committees supervised by the electoral commission and 70 directly nominated by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The process will be held on October 5 “in the electoral districts of Syria’s provinces”, the commission wrote on its Telegram channel. It did not specify if all provinces would take part.

In late August, the government announced that the selection would be delayed in the Druze-majority province of Sweida — the site of deadly clashes in July — and in the Kurdish-held regions of Raqa and Hasakeh, due to the security and political situation.

The system for appointing the interim parliament has been a target of major criticism by the opposition and civil society groups, which have denounced the concentration of powers in the president’s hands and insufficient representation of the country’s ethnic and religious minorities.

According to the constitutional declaration adopted in March, the transitional parliament will have a renewable mandate of 30 months.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2025