People's Assembly of Syria

People’s Council of Syria مجلس الشعب
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Hammouda Sabbagh, Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party since 28 September 2017
Structure
Seats	250
Political groups	NPF (200)   Independents (50)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Last election	13 April 2016
Next election	On or before 13 April 2020
Meeting place
Parliament Building, Damascus, Syria
Website
http://parliament.gov.sy/

The People's Council (Arabic: مجلس الشعب, Majlis al-Sha'ab; French: Assemblée du peuple) 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, is based on a multi-party system. 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 Orthodox Christian to have held the post.

The council meets at least three times a year and in special occasions called by the council's president or the president of the country.

Latest elections

The last elections were held on the 13th of April, 2016. The elections saw a recording 11,341 candidates seeking to run in the elections, and over 5 million voters out of 8 million eligible cast their votes.

The National Progressive Front won 200 out of 250 seats, 172 of which were for the Ba'ath Party, while 50 Independents held the rest of the seats.

 Summary of the 4 April 2016 People's Council of Syria election results

Parties	Votes	%	Seats	Seats inside
National Progressive Front (al-jabha al-waTaniyyah at-taqaddumiyyah)			200
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Hizb al-ba'th al-'arabi al-ishtiraki)				172
Syrian Social Nationalist Party (al-Hizb as-suri al-qawmi al-ijtima'i)				7
Socialist Unionists (al-wahdawiyyun al-ishtirakiyyun)				2
Communist Party of Syria (al-Hizb ash-shuyu'i as-suri, Wissal Farha Bakdash faction)				3
Communist Party of Syria (Yusuf Faisal faction)				1
National Vow Movement (Harakat al-'ahd al-waTani)				1
Arab Socialist Union (al-ittiHad al-ishtiraki al-'arabi)				2
Popular Front for Change and Liberation			0
People's Will Party				0
non-partisans			50
Total			250
Source: Syrian parliament

Names of legislature

The name of the legislature in Syria has changed, as follows, as has the composition and functions:

• Under the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (1917–1920)
  • Syrian National Congress (1919–1920)
• Arab Kingdom of Syria (1920)
  • Syrian National Congress (1920)
• State of Syria, part of the French Mandate (1922–1930)
  • Constituent Council (1923–1925)
  • Constituent Assembly (1924–1930)
• Syrian Republic (1930–58)
  • Council of Representatives (1932–1933)
  • Chamber of Deputies (1932–1946)
  • House of Representatives (1947–1949)
  • Constituent Assembly (1949–1951)
  • Chamber of Deputies (1953–1958)
• United Arab Republic (1958–1961)
  • Chamber of Deputies (1958–1960)
• Syrian Arab Republic (1961–present)
  • Chamber of Deputies (1961–1963)
  • National Revolutionary Council (1965–1966)
  • People's Council (1971–present)

See also

• Speaker of the People's Council of Syria
• Politics of Syria
• List of legislatures by country

External links

• People's Council of Syria official government website
• Syria's Legislative System profiles of people and institutions provided by the Arab Decision project