2025–26 Syrian parliamentary election

Number of MPs

According to the Higher Committee, the People's Assembly will comprise 210 MPs, with 140 MPs (two-thirds) being elected and the remaining 70 MPs (a third) being appointed by the president of Syria.^[16] The Higher Committee chair emphasised that the seats appointed by the president were to be reserved for "highly skilled technocrats to fill gaps that may arise from the electoral process and ensure diverse representation".^[20] Originally, 150 MPs were planned to be seated, with 100 MPs being elected and 50 MPs being appointed,^[12] however this was announced to have changed on 27 July 2025.

Electoral college system

The temporary electoral framework replaces direct elections, used under the former regime, with an indirect system. Instead of direct votes, subcommittees will choose delegates that form one electoral college per constituency, which in turn will choose MPs. The number of members on each governorate's sub-committee matches the number of MPs the governorate will elect. These sub-committees collect applications from individuals wishing to serve as delegates, who vote to elect an MP. Most constituencies have 150 delegates, but larger constituencies will have more, such as Damascus with 450.^[22] In total, 6,817 people were chosen as electors for the electoral college.^{[23][24][25][26][27][28]}

According to the committee, this approach was intended to suit the transitional and legislative—not representative—nature of the new parliament due to the lack of infrastructure, such as reliable census data and voter registration to conduct direct elections. According to the committee, the system was intended to favour technocrats and academics, targeting 70% of the MPs being academics or experts, and 30% being notable community figures (preferably with academic qualifications as well). Delegates were then selected to join the electoral college by the governorate's sub-committee according to 17 criteria. There were quotas mandating that each electoral college have at least 20% of delegates being women, and at least 3% with a disability.^[22]

Each governorate's electoral subcommittee was to nominate around 150 people per constituency, forming a local electoral college, from which a single or few parliamentary representative will be elected. 14 subcommittees were to be formed, one per governorate.^{[22][verification needed]}

The preliminary list of the members of the electoral college members was released on 24 September, allowing a one-day period for submitting objections.^[29] The final list was published on 26 September, and candidacy applications for MPs was open between 27 and 28 September.^[30]

Constituencies

The seats are elected by constituencies, with varying numbers of MPs allocated to each constituency. Committee member Mohammed Wali stated that "Each [governorate] has several [constituencies], each [constituency] produces several members of parliament".^[11] There are 60 constituencies,^[37][22] with 49 electing an MP on election day,^[38] and 2 further electing an MP on 23 October.^[39] Constituencies with more than 600,000 residents will elect three members for every additional 250,000 residents.^[22]

The final distribution of seats by governorate were released on 26 August 2025:^[40]

Term

The committee has also estimated that MPs will serve an expected term of five years.^[15] However, elections are supposed to be renewed after 30 months, since the term of the People's Assembly is set at 30 months in accordance with the constitutional declaration. This means that although the committee's mandate was initially conceived as a longer-term assignment, it remains subject to the legislative cycle established by the constitutional framework.

Candidacy

The requirements for candidacy are that the candidate must:^[41]

• Have been a Syrian citizen since before 2011.
• Have been registered in the civil registry within its electoral district, or be a resident for five consecutive years before 2011.
• Have legal capacity.
• Be at least twenty-five years old.
• Have good conduct.
• Have not have been convicted of a felony or a crime against honour, except for cases of a political or security nature.
• Should not have run for president after 2011.
• Have never been a member of the People's Assembly or a candidate in the post-2011 period unless defection is proven.
• Have not been a supporter of the former regime and terrorist organisations in any way, and not to be an advocate of secession, division or bullying abroad.
• Have not been affiliated with the armed forces or security services.
• Have not been a member of the Higher Committee, subcommittees or appeals committees.
• Have not been a minister, governor, deputy or assistant.
• Have been committed to the provisions of the Constitutional Declaration.
• Hold an accredited university degree or its equivalent for the category of competencies.
• Have a high school diploma for the category of notables.

Additionally, the candidate must be chosen from amongst the members of that electoral college.^[22]

Monitoring

The committee chair stated that, to maximise transparency, the election will be monitored by international organisations with the committee's coordination, having full freedom to contest lists and results.^[20] EU diplomats expressed a desire to visit the sub-committees and electoral districts, especially on election day, which was welcomed by the Higher Committee.^[42]

The Higher Committee additionally created an appeals sub-committee for each governorate, and for the Syrian Bar Association to appoint a lawyer for each of the constituencies as a legal observer.^[37][43]

Subcommittee members took the legal oath on 3 September,^[44][45] with the process of selecting electoral bodies starting on 7 September.^[46]

Nominations and campaigning dates

Nominations closed on 28 September, beginning the campaign period. 1,578 candidates were nominated, with 221 being women (14%). Voting on election day occurred from 9:00 on 5 October, and was planned to continue until polls close from approximately 12:00 or until 16:00 if some electoral college members had not voted by that time. Afterwards, votes would then be counted. The campaign period finished on 3 October, with 4 October being an "electoral silence" day.^[63] One day of election silence was observed before the scheduled election day.^[64]

Renaming the People's Assembly

One of the ongoing discussions in the Syrian election is the future structure of the People's Assembly. Committee spokesperson Nawar Najma said that discussions were taking place on whether to return to "one of the Assembly’s former names, such as the House of Representatives or Parliament", due to the "negative connotations by many Syrians of the name".^[65]

Individual

Syrian human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, director of the Syrian Centre for Legal Studies and Research, has described the process as a pragmatic step given Syria's current conditions. He acknowledged the lack of infrastructure and civil documentation, and emphasised the importance of including civil society and local leadership in transitional governance structures. Al-Bunni noted that this Assembly's decisions could be subject to future review, amendment, or repeal once popular elections are feasible.^[12]

Birgit Schäbler, historian and professor at the University of Erfurt and director of the Orient-Institut Beirut until 2022, said in early August 2025 that she did not expect the Druze to boycott the election, nor other minority groups, "provided the government respects their regional and local interests".^[2]

However, journalist Jasim Al-Azzawi wrote for Al Jazeera English that the elections required "genuine security and reconciliation", to avoid deepening existing sectarian divides.^[85]

National

• Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria: In response to the postponement of elections in the areas under DAANES control, the DAANES affirmed that the planned elections would "not [be] democratic" and "[would] not in any way reflect the will of the Syrian people".^[49]

International

• European Union Chargé d'affaires for Syria, Michael Unmacht, said that the European Union welcomed the formation of the Supreme Election Committee, and that the European Union would "offer its expertise in support of the transitional legislative authority".^[86]
• United Nations Special envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen, also welcomed the announcement of the formation of the Supreme Election Committee.^[87] Deputy envoy for Syria, Najat Rochdi, criticised the results of the election due to the underrepresentation of women.^[88]
• Germany: The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Federal Foreign Office released a joint statement saying that the election was an important step towards broader political participation, and emphasised Germany's support for an inclusive political process.^[89]

Appointed members

On 30 June, it was officially confirmed that the list of al-Sharaa's appointees would be released on 1 July.^[101] Al-Sharaa's appointees were chosen by a committee that completed a series of meetings and closed interviews conducted between 15 and 21 June, interviewing 100 candidates.^[102] The appointments were officially announced on 1 July, with 15 women appointed.^[103] The Secretary-General of the People's Assembly, Muhammad Hamza Shamout, explained that the "supplementary third" of the Assembly's members comprises 23 notables and 47 qualified professionals, including 12 with masters degrees and 17 with PhDs.^[104]

Inaugural session

Mohammed Taha al-Ahmed, chairman of the Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections, said that the first session of the People’s Assembly would be convened on 6 July,^[105] including the swearing-in of all members, the election of the presidential office, and the formation of a special committee to establish the Council’s internal regulations;^[104] however, a day prior to the scheduled date, al-Ahmed would announce that the inaugural session of the People's Assembly would be postponed to a later date.^[106]

Sources to Hawar News said that the session would take place on the following Sunday, and that the delay was whilst the Higher Elections Committee considered amendments to the procedures governing the inaugural session, allowing it to convene even if Sharaa was unable to attend, and that several procedural arrangements had yet to be finalised, such as either an individual, or collective, oath-taking. This was controversial as it may prevent MPs from taking the oath in Kurdish or using a different religious formulation. The same sources also indicated the delay was for the mechanism for electing the Speaker, deputy speakers, and secretary to be finalised, as the Constitutional Declaration simply reads they are to be elected with "a majority", not specifiying a relative majority (highest number of votes), or an absolute majority (50%+1) and whether it is a majority of all members, or all members present.^[107]

The first session of the assembly took place on 12 July.^[108] During the session, members took a collective oath before President Ahmed al-Sharaa.^[109] Ahmed al-Omar, Wissam Zaghloul, and Bishr Hawi, were appointed to a temporary legal committee tasked with overseeing the electoral process for the selection of the assembly’s leadership.^[110] The presiding officer of the first session, until a speaker had been elected, was Osama al-Assaf.^[109] Al-Assaf had opened the nomination process for the position of Speaker.^[111] Three members submitted their candidacies for the position of Speaker of the People's Assembly: Abdul Hamid al-Awak, Moayad Hayel al-Qablawi, and Mohammad Ramez Koraj.^[112]

The members of the People's Assembly elected al-Awak as Speaker with 99 votes out of 205 ballots cast in a secret ballot, defeating al-Qablawi, who received 75 votes, and Koraj, who received 31 votes. One blank ballot was declared invalid, according to Anadolu Agency.^{[113][114][115]} Al-Awak was the first person to hold the position of Speaker of the People's Assembly since the fall of the Assad regime.^[116]

The members of the Syrian People’s Assembly elected Mustafa al-Mousa as first deputy speaker, Madonna Bishara as second deputy speaker, and Mu'ayyad Habib as secretary. Moussa received 122 votes and Bishara 67 votes from among 10 candidates competing for the two deputy speaker positions, while Habib was elected secretary with 87 votes.^[117]