Syrians vote in invitation-only election

About 6,000 chosen electors are eligible to vote for 210-member legislature

Syria's interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa, left, visits a polling station in Damascus where members of Syrian local committees have been voting to designate an interim parliament. AFP

A Syrian electoral college member casts his vote during the parliamentary elections at Latakia's Governor ballot station, in the coastal city of Latakia, Syria. AP Photo

A member of the electoral colleges votes to select her candidate for the new Syrian Parliament since Bashar Al Assad's government was toppled, in Damascus, Syria. Reuters

Syrian Alawite candidate Reem Kahila casts her vote in Latakia. AP Photo

A member of the electoral colleges votes to select his candidate in Damascus. Reuters

A Syrian electoral college member votes in Latakia. The polls are being overseen by the Higher Committee for the Syrian People's Assembly Elections. AP Photo

Members of the electoral colleges vote in Damascus. Former president Mr Al Assad was ousted by new President Ahmed Al Shara's Hayat Tahrir Al Sham forces 10 months ago after a 13-year civil war. Reuters

Officials prepare ballot boxes for electoral college members before voting in a parliamentary election at a polling station in Damascus, Syria. AP Photo

Around 6,000 people voted on Sunday in Syria’s first parliamentary poll since Bashar Al Assad was toppled last year, a process the authorities said had been restricted because of instability in the country.

Security personnel dressed in all black and carrying AK-47 rifles guarded a library hall in Damascus, as electors ultimately chosen by the authorities cast ballots for candidates among them to represent the capital.

A similar process took place in several dozen electoral districts across the country, except for parts of the east and the south, where Syrian authorities have not overcome resistance to the new order. Results of the poll are expected to be declared by Monday.

Nawar Nijmeh, a spokesman for the election commission appointed by President Ahmad Al Shara, said that the process has been going “smoothly” and that votes have been already counted in several districts where voting had finished. He said the elections were “the first real experience by the Syrians to choose their representatives”.

Mr Al Shara visited the hall in Damascus where the poll was being conducted and addressed election officials, saying that the poll “suited the phase Syria is undergoing”. He described it as part of a transition in which Syria needed a parliament to pass legal reforms and government budgets.

A Syrian election official holds a ballot paper during the counting of votes in Latakia. AP

Voting and running for the new parliament has been limited to 6,050 people appointed by the commission.

Among those 6,050 voters, 1,578 have declared themselves candidates for 140 seats. Mr Al Shara will directly appoint the remaining members of the 210-seat legislature.

There were few signs in Syria on Sunday that an election was taking place. No rallies preceded the poll and there were no election manifestos or campaigns by any parties, amid an unclear political picture in the country.

“No one cares because it is a nomination, not an election,” said Sara Raed, a civil engineer.

Parliaments under the five-decade Assad family rule were largely rubber stamps, providing legal cover for monopolies held by the ruling elite. In 2000, the legislature hurriedly amended the constitution to lower the minimum presidential age, allowing Bashar Al Assad to inherit power from his father, Hafez.

An offensive by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), a splinter group of Al Qaeda led by Mr Al Shara, ousted Mr Al Assad in December 2024, ushering in Sunni political ascendancy. Syria became the only country among the Arab uprisings where the security apparatus underpinning the old system completely collapsed and was replaced by a new one.

Muhamed Wali, a member of the Higher Committee for the People's Assembly Elections, said the current arrangement for choosing a parliament was the only realistic option, citing post-civil war instability and the fact that many Syrians lack official documents. He said the new legislature will convene this month and begin legal reforms aimed at reviving the economy.