List of members of the Syrian National Congress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Syrian National Congress | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
 | |||||||
| Overview | |||||||
| Legislative body | Syrian National Congress | ||||||
| Jurisdiction | Arab Kingdom of Syria | ||||||
| Meeting place | The Arab Club building, Damascus | ||||||
| Term | June 3, 1919 – July 25, 1929 | ||||||
| Election | 1919 Syrian National Congress election | ||||||
| Government | al-Rikabi II (until May 3, 1920) al-Atassi I (since May 3, 1920) | ||||||
| Syrian National Congress | |||||||
| Members | 120 | ||||||
| Speaker | Muhammad Fawzi al-Azm (until November 14, 1919) Hashim al-Atassi (December 11, 1919 – May 3, 1920) Rashid Rida (May 5, 1920) | ||||||
| Sessions | |||||||
| |||||||
This is a list of members of the Syrian National Congress.[1] The Congress was held in Damascus in June 1919 after the end of Ottoman rule, to prepare for the reception of the King–Crane Commission and the decision of the future of natural Syria. Sources differ on the number of deputies in the Congress, but it is likely that there were 85 elected deputies representing various regions in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan, most of whom were former deputies of the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies.[2] Additionally, the Congress had 35 tribal chiefs and heads of religious communities.[2] The total number of deputies is thus 120 members. This list includes the names of 97 members, the rest are unknown.
The Congress is the first national legislative body in the modern history of Syria. On March 7, 1920, it declared the independence of the Arab Kingdom of Syria and the installation of Prince Faisal as its king. It also formed a committee to draft the country's first constitution.
The members of the Congress were divided into three main blocs referred to as parties. However, it is unclear whether they constituted official party organizations or just parliamentary blocs. The blocs include the Progress Party, which formed the ruling bloc emanating from the al-Fatat organisation and included about 60 members, the Democratic Party, which represented the main opposition bloc and included about 30 members, in addition to a group of independent members who did not belong to either of the two blocs and are estimated at 20 members.[3][4]