2012 Syrian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Syria on 7 May 2012 to elect the members of the Syrian People's Council. The elections followed the approval of a new constitution in a referendum on 26 February 2012.
Image: Bashar al Assad (cropped)
Image: Qadri Jamil M2017 05
People's Assembly of Syria
The People's Assembly is Syria's legislative authority. It has 250 members elected for a four-year term in 15 multi-seat constituencies. There are two main political fronts; the National Progressive Front and Popular Front for Change and Liberation. The 2012 elections, held on 7 May, resulted in a new parliament that, for the first time in four decades, was nominally based on a multi-party system. In 1938, Fares Al-Khoury became the first Christian to be elected Speaker.
In 2016 Hadiya Khalaf Abbas, Ph.D., representing Deir Ezzor since 2003, became the first woman elected to be the Speaker. In 2017, Hammouda Sabbagh became the first Syriac Orthodox Christian to have held the post.
People's Assembly of Syria