The Cradle

JUL 2, 2026

The Syrian public has not been allowed to participate in the selection of any parliament members, allowing Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former Al-Qaeda leader, to consolidate his power through the new legislative body

Following months of delays, Syrian authorities on 2 July released the names of 70 legislators handpicked by Syria’s self-appointed President Ahmad al-Sharaa for a transitional parliament, clearing the way for the assembly to convene next week.

The new legislators will join 140 parliament members chosen last September in a process that was also tightly controlled by Sharaa, the former Al-Qaeda and Islamic State commander, who came to power in Damascus in December 2024 with US, Israeli, and Turkish backing.

The head of Syria’s electoral committee, Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, said on Thursday that the new 210-member legislature will hold its first meeting on Monday. The parliament’s new members will be sworn in, while a presidential council for the legislative body will be elected.

The new parliament will have a 30-month term and work on a new elections law while preparing the ground for a popular vote in the next elections, according to Ahmad.

The parliament is also tasked with amending laws and writing a new constitution for Syria.

Turkiye – one of Sharaa’s main foreign backers – stands to exert significant influence over the parliament. Turkiye Today observes that former Syrian refugees in Turkiye make up a quarter of the the initial 140 members of parliament selected last year.

“Turkish institutions engaged on all levels with Syrian oppositional figures who are now the vast majority of parliamentarians,” the paper added.

Among the 70 new appointees is Hassan Soufan, who was the head of Ahrar al-Sham, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group that fought as part of the 14-year CIA-backed insurgency against former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

According to a tally by the New Arab, the newly appointed members include five from Idlib; six from Homs, seven from Hasakah, four from Deraa, three from Raqqa, five from Damascus, two from Quneitra, six from Deir Ezzor, four from Latakia, five from Rural Damascus, 14 from Aleppo, two from Tartous, five from Hama, and two from Suwayda.

Among those from Suwayda is Druze warlord Leith Balous, widely considered a traitor among Syria’s Druze community. Balous sided with Sharaa’s forces as they massacred hundreds of members of the minority religious community in July 2025.

Two Alawites were also appointed, raising their total to five. Syrian forces massacred some 1,600 Alawite civilians in March 2025.

While maintaining secular institutions such as a parliament, Syria is unofficially governed by extremist Sunni Muslim religious figures known as “sheikhs” who are embedded within government institutions and public service departments, including police stations, municipalities, and the judiciary.

As a result, Syria’s Alawite, Druze, and Shia communities have few rights and are often kidnapped, murdered, and imprisoned with impunity.

Of the 70 appointments, 15 were female, bringing the total to 21 women in parliament after six were chosen last year.

Bassam al-Kuwaiti, leader of the Syrian Liberal Party, told the New Arab that the lack of women and appointment of “unknown names” suggested the selection process was not democratic.

“The whole process went without proper consultations with the Syrian public and without a national dialogue; therefore, it was designed to serve one party only,” he said.

Rahaf Aldoughli, an assistant professor of Middle East and North African Studies at Lancaster University, told the New Arab that the parliament is likely to “rubberstamp” Sharaa’s decisions in many cases. “I doubt the independence of this council” on some issues, he stated.

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Via https://thecradle.co/articles/syrias-self-appointed-president-handpicks-final-70-parliament-members