October 5, 2025

Big news from Syria! After decades under Bashar Assad’s tight rule, Syria is holding parliamentary elections for the first time since his fall in December. But don’t expect a usual election drama with millions voting. This time, only selected electoral college members will choose most lawmakers, and one-third of the seats will be appointed directly by the interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Under Assad’s 50 years of rule, elections were held regularly but were mostly a show, where the Baath Party always won. Now, Syria is trying a new way of voting. The People’s Assembly has 210 seats, with 140 seats voted on by about 6,000 electoral college members across 50 districts (some areas like Sweida and Kurdish northeast are skipped due to ongoing tensions). The remaining 70 seats are appointed by the interim president. Why no popular vote? Millions of Syrians are displaced by 14 years of civil war, and many lost documents. So, it’s hard to make a proper voter list. Officials say this parliament will last 30 months, giving time to prepare for a real popular vote next time. But this new system has caused grumbles. Experts worry about how the electoral colleges were picked, saying "there is no oversight, and the whole process is sort of potentially vulnerable to manipulation," explained Haid Haid from Arab Reform Initiative. Plus, some names mysteriously vanished from candidate lists. What about women and minorities? Women had to be 20% of electoral colleges, but only 14% of final candidates are women. Some districts had up to 40% women candidates, while others none at all. There are no fixed quotas for religious or ethnic minorities. Sweida’s Druze area and Kurdish northeast are left out, stirring concerns about fair representation, especially after violent clashes in recent months. On the bright side, specialist Benjamin Feve points out that the government purposely kept minority areas intact to protect their voices. Also, President al-Sharaa’s power to appoint one-third of legislators might help include more women and minorities. Yet, Haid warns: “Regardless of how many people will be appointed from those areas, the dispute between the de facto authorities and Damascus over their participation in the political process will remain a major issue.” So, Syria’s elections are set to be a tricky but important test on its way toward democracy. Will this new system bring change or more political drama? Watch this space!

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Tags: Syria elections 2025, Bashar assad fall, People's assembly, Syrian civil war, Electoral colleges, Women representation,