Syria selects members of first post-Assad parliament

Syria were to select members of its first post-Assad parliament yesterday in a process criticised as undemocratic, with a third of the members appointed by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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A member of electoral colleges opens the ballot box, during a vote to select a candidate for the new Syrian Parliament since Bashar al-Assad's government was toppled, in Damascus, Syria, yesterday.

(REUTERS)

The assembly's formation is set to consolidate the power of Mr Sharaa, whose Islamist forces led a coalition that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war and five decades of one-family rule.

According to the organising committee, more than 1,500 candidates — just 14% of them women — are running for the assembly, which will have a renewable 30-month mandate. Mr Sharaa is to appoint 70 representatives out of the 210-member body.

The other two-thirds will be selected by local committees appointed by the electoral commission, which itself was appointed by Mr Sharaa.