Syria to Elect New Legislature 

Syria announced Monday it will hold parliamentary elections in September, the first to take place under the country’s new leadership, which took power following the ouster of the regime of former President Bashar Assad in December, the Associated Press reported.  

Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, chairman of the Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections, told state news agency SANA that elections will take place between Sept. 15 and 20. 

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa will appoint one-third of the 210 seats, while the rest will be filled by elections. 

Hassan al-Daghim, also a member of the elections committee, told the Erem News site that an electoral college will be set up in each Syrian province to choose the seats. 

Al-Sharaa signed a temporary constitution in March that mandated the creation of a People’s Committee to act as an interim parliament until a permanent constitution is adopted and general elections held, a process that could take several years. 

When the plan was first announced, critics warned that it gave too much power to al-Sharaa and did not adequately represent the country’s ethnic and religious diversity, France 24 noted. 

The announcement came amid growing discontent over the new government following recent outbreaks of sectarian violence. 

The clashes, which have killed hundreds of people, have placed Syria’s delicate postwar transition at serious risk.