People's Assembly of Syria
People’s Assembly of the Syrian Arab Republic مجلس الشعب الجمهورية العربية السورية | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 250 |
Political groups | Government (250)
National Progressive Front (183) |
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
Last election | 19 July 2020 |
Next election | 2024 (expected) |
| Meeting place | |
| Parliament Building, Damascus, Syria | |
| Website | |
| http://parliament.gov.sy/ | |
|
Member State of the Arab League |
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The People's Assembly (Arabic: مَجْلِس الشَّعْب, ALA-LC: Majlis al-Shaʻb) is Syria's legislative authority. It has 250 members elected for a four-year term in 15 multi-seat constituencies. There are two main political fronts; the National Progressive Front and Popular Front for Change and Liberation. The 2012 elections, held on 7 May, resulted in a new parliament that, for the first time in four decades, was nominally based on a multi-party system. In 1938, Fares Al-Khoury became the first Christian to be elected Speaker. In 2016 Hadiya Khalaf Abbas, Ph.D., representing Deir Ezzor since 2003, became the first woman elected to be the Speaker. In 2017, Hammouda Sabbagh became the first Syriac Orthodox Christian to have held the post.
The assembly meets at least three times a year and in special occasions called by the council's president or the president of the country. Until 2012, the council primarily served as an institution to validate Syria's one-party system and the confirm the legislative proceedings of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath party.