New electoral system for Syria’s parliament finalized, announcement expected soon: Spox

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s legislative elections committee has finalized a new “interim” electoral system for selecting and electing members of parliament, a senior elections official told Rudaw on Monday, adding that the system will be announced soon. The development comes as the number of seats in Syria's parliament is set to expand from 150 to 210, officials confirmed.

Nawar Najma, spokesperson for the Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections, said the new system is based on a dual mechanism that combines both “selection and election.”

The process will begin with district-level subcommittees, formed by the elections committee, selecting members for electoral bodies - approximately 50 members per People's Assembly seat. "After that, we move to the second stage, the electoral stage, where elections are held within these electoral bodies," Najma explained.

According to Najma, two-thirds of parliament members will be elected through this internal process, while the remaining one-third will be appointed directly by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The interim government was established after opposition forces - led by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), then headed by Sharaa - toppled the regime of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in a swift December offensive.

Sharaa assumed the role of interim president in late January. Soon after, the existing Syrian constitution was annulled, the parliament dissolved, and the national army disbanded.

In mid-March, Sharaa approved a 53-article constitutional declaration which granted him sweeping powers, including authority to appoint one-third of the legislature and all judges of the constitutional court - the only institution capable of holding him accountable.

Critics have warned that the interim constitution could entrench authoritarianism and sideline minority communities such as Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites.

“We are very keen on the participation of citizens” in provinces like Raqqa and Hasaka - largely controlled by the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) - and the Druze-majority province of Suwayda in southern Syria, Najma said. While acknowledging political and security challenges in those areas he stressed that “alternative mechanisms” may be adopted to guarantee representation if necessary.

Najma also confirmed growing public demand for increased parliamentary representation, noting that such an increase “will be good and satisfactory for all provinces and citizens.”

Of note, the head of the Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections, Mohammad Taha al-Ahmed, was cited by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Monday as stating that the number of parliamentary seats would rise from 150 to 210. The distribution will be based on Syria’s 2011 census and would be distributed among Syria’s 14 provinces.

For his part, Najma concluded that the new electoral system may be announced in the coming days, with the election and selection process expected to be completed by September.

Below is the full transcript of the interview with Nawar Najma.

Rudaw: What are the main features of the new electoral system that has been finalized?

Nawar Najma: Yes, of course, as you know, the Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections was formed based on a presidential decree, in accordance with the constitutional declaration, to ensure a smooth selection and election of two-thirds of the People's Assembly members. To achieve this, it was necessary to establish a law-like framework, or what can be called an interim electoral system, to define the mechanisms and steps through which People's Assembly members will be selected and elected.

The fundamental features of this system is that there is a [dual] mechanism that combines selection and election. The process will begin with the Election Committee’s forming subcommittees at the district level within the provinces. These subcommittees will be responsible for selecting the members of the electoral bodies, also at the district level in the provinces, with an average of 50 members for each electoral body chosen to select [who fills each] People's Assembly seat.

After that, we will move to the second stage which is the electoral stage, where elections will be held within the electoral bodies. Members of these electoral bodies will also be allowed to nominate themselves or vote for People's Assembly membership. Therefore, these elections will be confined within the electoral bodies and are set to bring forth two-thirds of the People's Assembly members and the majority of it. Then comes the final step, where the President of the Republic will appoint the remaining third of the People's Assembly and we will have a new People's Assembly for the transitional phase.

When do you expect interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to give his final ratification of [the electoral system] draft?

I believe the ratification will take place within days. This electoral system has undergone many discussions, and we have met with the President several times to discuss this electoral system. I think we have reached the final draft and I expect this system to be published very soon.

Has a clear timeline been set for the formation of subcommittees and electoral bodies, and the start of the electoral process after ratification?

Indeed, there is an approximate timeline, a rough estimation that is. As soon as the temporary electoral system is issued, the formation of subcommittees will begin immediately, and this process may take from several days to a week. After that, the door for appeals from citizens in these subcommittees will open and upon approval of the formation of the committees [with their designated members] the process of forming the electoral bodies will begin. I believe that implementing this mechanism may conclude by the end of August or the start of September; by then the election and selection process for People's Assembly members will begin and if things proceed normally, this stage will conclude around the time I indicated.

What is the mechanism for forming the subcommittees and what are the criteria for selecting members of those committees who will elect the members of the People's Assembly?

The subcommittees will be formed by the High Electoral Committee in consultation with social and professional dignitaries, influential actors in society and local authorities. There will be extensive consultations to select the members of these subcommittees, because the proper selection of subcommittee members is a very delicate matter, as [it has a direct impact] on the proper selection of members of the electoral bodies.

To achieve this, a set of criteria and conditions were established for selecting subcommittee members. In short, the most important of these criteria and conditions is that they must have obtained a Syrian nationality no later than May 2011, they must be among the residents of the provinces in which they are a member of the sub-committee, and they must also be residing in Syria for the sub-committees. While residence in Syria is not required for members of electoral bodies. Of course, they must be characterized by good conduct and behavior and full legal capacity, possess competence and a university degree, and be known not to be in conflict with any component of society.

Furthermore, there are additional conditions related to members of electoral bodies for the categories of competencies and notables within the electoral bodies, and these are the basic conditions for them. Of course, the basic condition must be that they absolutely do not support, neither in word nor deed, the defunct regime [of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad]. They must also have no affiliation with any of the security forces or the army to ensure the neutrality of the military apparatus and the interior ministry as well.

I will shift to the citizenship issue, Dr. Nawar. You know that after 2011, there are some individuals who were previously stripped of citizenship and obtained it in recent years. Do they have the right to be among the members of sub-committees or electoral bodies?

In reality, regarding citizenship, anyone who obtained Syrian citizenship by May 2011 [at the latest] has the right to be a member of subcommittees or electoral bodies. As for those who obtained Syrian citizenship after May 2011, they do not have the right to be a member of sub-committees or electoral bodies. We took May as a reference because there was a decree issued in April 2011 related to naturalizing the Kurdish brothers, and therefore, we adopted May.

Will the names of subcommittee members be announced as soon as they are formed?

Of course, as soon as the names of subcommittee [members] are approved after going through the appeals stage, these names will be announced publicly to citizens, after which they can immediately assume their responsibilities.

How will representatives of north and east Syria be elected?

Of course, we had hoped to be able to visit the areas of the two provinces of Raqqa and Hasaka. We are very keen on the participation of citizens in these two provinces in the People's Assembly entitlement. Unfortunately, we have not been able to visit the provinces of Raqqa and Hasaka until now. We held meetings with dignitaries, citizens and influentials from these two provinces at the People's Assembly headquarters in Damascus, and the discussion was frank and promising. I mean, if there is a development in the political process in parallel to the committee's work during the next month, we hope to be able to visit the two provinces and conduct the electoral process. If this does not happen, there may be alternative mechanisms [in place]. But we certainly guarantee that the provinces of Raqqa and Hasakah will be represented among the members of the People's Assembly within the current People's Assembly.

What about Suwayda province? How is the High Committee preparing to elect representatives of that province given the current security, political, and social reality?

In reality, what applies to the two provinces of Raqqa and Hasaka also applies to Suwayda province. We wanted to visit these three provinces. Now in light of the security situation in Suwayda province, we have been trying to visit it for a month now, but haven’t been able to. Also, if there is a development and resolution of matters in Suwayda province, we will visit it. If we are unable, and political matters do not progress in parallel with the committee's work, alternative mechanisms will be put in place in these three provinces to ensure the representation of citizens there within the People's Assembly.

Dr. Nawar, you conducted field consultations and meetings in many cities. There are demands to increase the number of seats in some provinces. Is this possible?

Actually, in all provinces, we received demands to increase the number of seats. I believe there will be an increase in the number of seats within the provinces. We are waiting, of course, for the issuance of the electoral system to determine this point for certain.

How much will this increase in the number of seats be?

I mean, it will be a good increase, I believe, and it will be satisfactory for all provinces and all citizens.

Which province is demanding the most increase in the number of seats?

The issue is not about most seats but rather about more seats. [Citizens] in all provinces demanded an increase in the number of seats. Therefore, it was a general demand. There was no province that demanded more than others. All provinces had a desire to increase the number of seats. You know that usually the Syrian People's Assembly was larger than this number, about double or slightly less. Therefore, all provinces demanded an increase in the number and I believe the Higher Electoral Committee will likely respond to this demand.

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