Damascus, Syria – Syrian authorities announced on Sunday that a new transitional parliament would be selected in September, with local electoral bodies picking two-thirds of the lawmakers and the country’s interim president naming the rest.
The local electoral bodies will be formed within about three weeks of the signing of the decree laying out the temporary system, SANA cited Ahmad as saying.
After that, candidacies will open, with hopefuls given about a week to prepare their platforms before debates are held.
The assembly will have a renewable mandate of 36 months, according to the constitutional declaration adopted in March.
The declaration stated that the parliament would exercise legislative powers until a permanent constitution was adopted and new elections were held.
When it was first announced, critics of the declaration warned it concentrated power in Sharaa’s hands and failed to reflect the country’s ethnic and religious diversity.
The authorities’ ability to maintain stability and security, particularly for minority groups, has been repeatedly called into question by periodic outbreaks of violence in which government forces and their allies have been implicated.
