Damascus : Syria’s new People’s Assembly opened its first session with elections, constitutional oaths, and a conspicuous silence that many Syrians saw as a political statement: President Ahmed al-Sharaa entered the chamber without the prolonged applause once demanded by the Assad-era culture of presidential glorification.
Reporting from Damascus, Rizik Alabi describes a legislature trying to present itself as an institution of oversight and representation rather than another stage for choreographed loyalty. The 210-seat assembly elected constitutional law scholar Dr. Abdul Hamid al-Awak as speaker, with Mustafa Moussa and Dr. Madona Suhail Bashara chosen as deputy speakers. Of the chamber’s members, 140 were elected and 70 appointed by the president, while four seats remain vacant.
Al-Awak, a former judge and constitutional law professor who defected from the previous government, chaired the committee that drafted Syria’s transitional constitutional declaration. His election places one of the architects of the post-Assad legal framework at the head of the body responsible for legislation and government oversight until a permanent constitution and new elections are in place.
Yet the ceremony’s most discussed moment was what did not happen. For decades, lawmakers greeted Hafez Assad and Bashar Assad with standing ovations and speeches praising their leadership. This time, there was no such display.
Aleppo lawmaker Bashar al-Hawi told The Media Line that the absence of applause was deliberate and reflected a belief that parliament should leave no room for glorifying the president. Still, the chamber faces a far harder test than symbolism. Nour al-Din Ismail, editor-in-chief of the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper, warned that the assembly must prove its independence through legislation, open debate, public representation, and genuine scrutiny of the government.
The session also included the first Kurdish woman and first veiled woman to serve in the chamber, while Bashara’s election placed a woman in one of its highest leadership posts.
International officials welcomed the opening, with United Nations and Turkish representatives describing it as an important step in Syria’s transition.
Alabi’s full report examines whether this quiet opening marks the start of institutional change—or merely a new ceremony awaiting proof.
