🗳️ Syria Holds First Parliamentary Elections Under Sharaa, but Questions Over Democratic Credibility Persist

Foreign Policy has published a penetrating report delineating the contours of syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria’s nascent political era in the wake of the Assad regime’s collapse, casting a discerning light upon the inaugural parliamentary elections convened under leader Ahmed Sharaa, and the fervent controversy engendered by questions of their transparency and the circumscribed prerogatives of the emergent legislature. In its measured scrutiny of the landscape, the journal probes whether this electoral exercise heralds an authentic democratic metamorphosis or constitutes naught but a perfunctory gesture within a polity yet ensnared in seclusion and constraint. as per the report, Syria has held its first parliamentary elections since the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of transitional leader Ahmed Sharaa, but the vote has fueled debate over whether the country is taking its first steps toward democracy or merely repackaging old authoritarian practices. Among the contenders was Adhem Masoud al-Qaq, a Druze academic who was imprisoned three times in the 1980s under Hafez al-Assad for advocating democratic reform and later spent 36 years in exile. Notably, after returning home in 2024, al-Qaq ran to represent the Damascus suburb of Jaramana—but, like numerous hopefuls, ultimately lost.

A Vote Pre-Decided Turnout was extremely low, the report says. Fewer than 6,000 local representatives—chosen through a multi-tiered electoral college—were responsible for filling 119 of the 210 seats. Elections in multiple districts were postponed indefinitely due to security concerns. Sharaa was expected to appoint 70 additional members by the end of October, but has yet to do so, amid a flurry of high-profile diplomatic visits to Moscow, Riyadh, and Washington.

Candidates and observers informed Foreign Policy that outcomes were largely known in advance. “It was perfectly clear who would win long before voting commenced,” al-Qaq stated. Electoral subcommittees, appointed through a hierarchy that ultimately reports to the president, held decisive control over who could actually stand. authorities insisted the system was necessary given the displacement of millions of Syrians and the collapse of state institutions. Critics described it as an opaque, closed process vulnerable to political manipulation and corruption. Restricted Powers, Limited Pluralism The elections took place under a constitutional declaration issued by Sharaa in March, launching a five-year transitional period.

While the emerging assembly can debate and pass legislation, it may only vote on bills proposed by the executive and cannot withdraw confidence from the president. Presidential elections are not expected for four or five years. Radwan Ziadeh of the…