Syria selects members of first post-Assad parliament

LOCAL committees in Syria cast their ballots for members of a transitional parliament in a process criticised as undemocratic, with a third of the new lawmakers to be appointed directly by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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SYRIA's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) visits the polling station where members of Syrian local committees have been casting their votes in the country's selection process to designate an interim parliament, in Damascus.

(AFP)

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

Members of the local committees queued up to vote at Syria's National Library, formerly the Assad National Library, with the electoral commission saying in the evening that "the voting has ended and the counting is underway".