Syria’s newly formed People’s Assembly on Sunday elected constitutional law scholar Dr. Abdul Hamid al-Awak as speaker, while Mustafa Moussa and Dr. Madona Suhail Bashara were elected deputy speakers during the legislature’s first session since the fall of former President Bashar Assad, marking the launch of Syria’s first legislative body in the country’s transitional period.
For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org
The session, attended by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, saw 206 lawmakers take the constitutional oath before electing the assembly’s leadership and forming a temporary legal committee to oversee parliamentary procedures.
The 210-seat legislature consists of 140 elected members and 70 members appointed by the president. Four seats remain vacant—three allocated to Suwayda province, where elections could not be held, and one representing Idlib following the death of a member.
Al-Awak, originally from Hasakah province, is regarded as one of the most prominent legal figures to emerge during Syria’s transitional period. A constitutional law professor and former judge who defected from the previous government, he chaired the committee that drafted Syria’s constitutional declaration governing the transition.
A prominent advocate of the separation of powers and stronger parliamentary oversight, al-Awak drew attention as an architect of Syria’s transitional constitutional framework who is now leading the country’s first post-Assad legislature.
Yet what drew the greatest attention among Syrians was not the election of the assembly’s leadership or President al-Sharaa’s address, but what was absent from the opening session.
For the first time in decades, the president delivered his speech without the prolonged applause that had traditionally accompanied the arrival of former presidents Hafez Assad and Bashar Assad at parliamentary sessions. Many Syrians viewed the absence of applause as a symbolic indication of an emerging political culture inside the legislature.
The session also featured several symbolic firsts, including the presence of the first Kurdish woman and the first veiled woman to serve under the assembly’s dome, while Bashara’s election as second deputy speaker placed a woman in one of the new legislature’s highest leadership positions.
In a post on X following the session, al-Sharaa described the launch of the People’s Assembly as “an important national milestone” toward strengthening consultation, responsibility, and institution-building based on dialogue, competence, and the rule of law.
For more than five decades, Syria’s parliament was closely associated with public displays of loyalty to the president. During the presidencies of Hafez and Bashar Assad, parliamentary sessions routinely began with lawmakers standing and applauding for extended periods before the president addressed the chamber, often followed by speeches praising his leadership and endorsing government policies.
Legislature criticized for lacking independence from president
Throughout those years, opposition figures, researchers, and human rights organizations frequently criticized the legislature for lacking independence, arguing that it largely approved government legislation without exercising meaningful oversight or facilitating substantive parliamentary debate.
Against that backdrop, many Syrians viewed the absence of applause during Sunday’s session as more than a procedural change, seeing it instead as a symbolic attempt to redefine the relationship between the presidency and the legislature.
The moment quickly became one of the most discussed scenes on Syrian social media. While many users described it as a symbolic break from the parliamentary traditions of the Assad era, others argued that the new assembly should ultimately be judged by its legislative performance rather than its opening ceremony.
Bashar al-Hawi, a member of parliament representing Aleppo province, said the symbolism of the opening session was deliberate rather than spontaneous.
“The absence of applause was not accidental,” al-Hawi told The Media Line. “It reflected a firm conviction that parliament should be a legislative institution where there is no place for glorification or applause for the president. We wanted the first session to present an image different from what Syrians had become accustomed to over past decades.”
He added that the new legislature seeks to regain public confidence by genuinely representing Syrians, noting that many of its members “came from among the people and lived through the same hardships experienced by Syrians during the war.”
Regarding female representation, al-Hawi acknowledged that greater balance is still needed but stressed that the women who entered parliament did so on merit rather than as a symbolic gesture, expressing confidence that they would play an active role in the coming period.
Meanwhile, Nour al-Din Ismail, editor-in-chief of the Syrian state-run newspaper Al-Thawra, said the assembly’s first session contained several unfamiliar features in Syria’s parliamentary life, including the way proceedings were managed, the election of the leadership, and the absence of applause for the president.
However, he cautioned that these developments remain largely symbolic unless they evolve into lasting institutional practices.
“The success of any parliament is not measured by its inaugural session,” Ismail told The Media Line, “but by the legislation it passes, its ability to hold the government accountable, encourage genuine debate, and represent diverse social interests.”
Real difference lies in independence, authority
He added that the real difference from previous legislatures would depend on the assembly’s independence and authority.
“If parliament succeeds in becoming a platform for public debate, legislation, and government oversight,” he said, “it will have broken with the model of previous parliaments, which were often criticized for merely endorsing government decisions rather than shaping them.”
Under Syria’s constitutional declaration, the People’s Assembly will exercise legislative and oversight powers throughout the transitional period until a permanent constitution is adopted and new parliamentary elections are held.
The inaugural session also drew international attention. Claudio Cordone, the UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, welcomed the opening of the People’s Assembly, describing it as “a pivotal milestone” in the country’s political transition. He said the parliament would play a vital role in passing urgently needed legislation during this critical phase and reaffirmed the United Nations’ readiness to provide the necessary support.
Meanwhile, Turkish Ambassador to Syria Nuh Yılmaz congratulated the Syrian people on the launch of the assembly, saying the country had waited decades to restore popular sovereignty after years of sacrifice.