How Syria's parliamentary elections could entrench, not democratise, power

Damascus - Syria's transitional government is preparing for parliamentary elections that critics say may entrench rather than democratise power, as restrictions on candidates and the postponement of voting in key provinces fuel debate over the credibility of the democratic transition process.

On 22 August 2025, Transitional President Ahmed Al-Sharaa issued Presidential Decree No. 143/2025, adopting a temporary electoral system for the new parliament.

Under the decree, parliament seats increased to 210, with the president directly appointing one-third, while the remaining seats are distributed among provinces according to population.

Al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, was the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that led the coalition which overthrew Bashar Al-Assad's regime in December 2024, ending over five decades of Assad family rule.

This electoral process takes place as Syria attempts to rebuild after a devastating 13-year civil war that killed over 500,000 people and displaced more than half the population.

The international community has expressed support for Syria's political transition, with the EU and the US lifting the majority of Assad-era sanctions on the country in recent months. Both have called for inclusive and pluralistic governance, and representation, in state institutions.

The elections, scheduled for 15-20 September, will allow international monitoring organisations to observe for the first time. However, the vote imposes strict conditions on candidates, barring supporters of the former regime, those the authorities label as "terrorist" groups, or those "calling for partition".

Authorities have not clarified the practical mechanisms for implementing these criteria, raising concerns that they could become tools for political exclusion.

Postponements in key provinces

Despite Damascus presenting the upcoming parliamentary elections as a step toward "constitutional legitimacy," the new electoral system and subsequent postponements in three provinces have reignited debate about the process itself.

With strict constraints, appointed seats, and millions of Syrians inside and outside the country excluded from voting, questions are being raised about what form of “democracy” can emerge.

The Supreme Elections Committee, on 23 August 2025, announced the postponement of the process in three provinces - Suweida, Hassakeh, and Raqqa - citing "security challenges".

The decision appeared as a temporary legal framework that essentially hides an equation returning executive power to legislative seats, reducing democracy to a formula controlled by central authority.

These three provinces represent different challenges for Syria's new government. Hassakeh and Raqqa are controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led alliance backed by the United States.

Suweida province, populated mainly by the Druze minority, has seen ongoing unrest and resistance to central authority.

Committee spokesperson Dr Nawar Najma confirmed to The New Arab that the decision came "out of concern for fair representation and to avoid the risks of chaos," and that seats for these provinces would remain reserved until safe conditions are available.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), meanwhile, condemned the postponement as "blatant political exclusion," arguing that their areas are among "the safest regions in the country" and that their exclusion deprives nearly five million Syrians of their political rights.

The administration called on the international community and the United Nations not to recognise the elections and their results, considering them "a practice that contradicts the political solution process stipulated in UN Security Council Resolution 2254".

UN Security Council Resolution 2254, adopted in 2015, calls for a Syrian-led political transition process including the drafting of a new constitution and free and fair elections under UN supervision.

Najma explained that Hassakeh and Raqqa represent special political and strategic weight, noting that Raqqa's population is about 816,000, while Hassakeh has nearly 1.3 million inhabitants, both under SDF control.

As for Suweida province, home to about 322,000 people, mostly Druze, it has experienced security disturbances, making elections there "impossible without the state regaining full control," according to the committee.

Legal and political controversy

While the government describes the elections as a "sovereign entitlement" that can only be organised in a secure environment under state authority, activists tell TNA that the postponement decision has become a tool for excluding essential components from Syria's political map.

Political activist Zaid al-Azm said the new electoral system "lacks transparency" and ensures that executive power maintains control of legislative power.

“The elections are not general or direct but managed through electoral bodies dominated by President Al-Sharaa, making him the effective appointer of the entire parliament,” Al Azm said.

Another activist from Suweida, Aya Kaywan, warned that “excluding the province along with the absence of accurate census data, coinciding with its siege and then political marginalisation, reveals an unbalanced aspect in the authority's vision and questions the seriousness of the entire process”.

In contrast, political activist Dr Feras Mamdouh al-Fahd from Raqqa believes that “forming a temporary parliament, even though an imperfectly democratic mechanism, is better than the absence of any representative institution”.

He affirms that “any electoral experience, however limited, represents a first step toward building constitutional legitimacy in the transitional phase”.

Transitional parliament or reproduction of the central system?

Despite raising parliament seats to 210, including 70 deputies directly appointed by the president, the space for popular representation remains limited.

New rules require candidates to be registered in their constituency before 2011 and to have "good conduct and behaviour" according to criteria many consider "vague," especially given the absence of a clear implementation methodology.

The electoral system also restricts candidacy rights to members of pre-selected electoral bodies, effectively excluding a wide range of political activists and opposition figures, especially those who emerged during or after the Syrian uprising that began in March 2011.

Additionally, millions of displaced and refugee Syrians will have no role in the process, obscuring a large portion of the Syrian people from participation.

The UN estimates that over 13 million Syrians have been displaced by the conflict, with approximately 5.6 million registered as refugees in neighbouring countries and Europe.

These restrictions, alongside postponing elections in three provinces representing about 10% of council seats, may reveal the depth of political division and raise questions about the legitimacy of the entire process.

While the government considers it a "necessary" step within the path of building state institutions, critics describe it as merely a "limited referendum" that entrenches central authority rule and reproduces a system that doesn't allow real representation for Syrians.

The complex political scene in the country is dominated by pressing questions about whether these elections will constitute an entry point for building transitional constitutional legitimacy, representing a real choice for the will of a people exhausted by wars, or voting closer to being a referendum governed by the ceiling of authority.

This article is published in collaboration with Egab.