Enab Baladi – Nouran al-Samman

The decision of the Syrian People’s Assembly to revoke the membership of two parliamentarians, after they obtained Turkish citizenship in the same month, stirs a state of controversy and questions regarding the mechanism of applying such a measure, the reasons that hindered adherence to it previously, and how those figures reached their seats without disclosing the issue of dual citizenship from the outset.

Questions are also directed towards whether the voting on stripping the membership reflects a legal direction or if it is subjected to other considerations.

The local Al-Watan newspaper reported on October 22 that the People’s Assembly voted unanimously to strip the membership of Mohammad Hamsho due to his obtaining Turkish citizenship.

This came days after the stripping of the membership of the member of the People’s Assembly, Shadi Debsi, for a similar reason, on October 10 of the current month.

What happened?

The Assembly had approved, on October 10, the report of its office which proposed the stripping of Debsi’s membership based on article “243” of the Assembly’s internal regulations.

Article “243” grants the Assembly’s office the authority to propose revocation of membership if a member loses any of the candidacy conditions, and it stipulates informing the Supreme Constitutional Court within seven days of its issuance for the court to announce the vacancy of the seat based on an official ruling.

A lawyer residing in Damascus confirmed that the People’s Assembly has the right under the mentioned article to revoke the membership of one of its members if it is proven that they have lost any of the candidacy conditions for the position.

The lawyer familiar with the details of the case stated to Enab Baladi that the law obliged the Assembly to inform the Constitutional Court and did not require its approval.

In response to the reasons behind stripping the membership, the lawyer replied that he was unaware if there were political reasons behind this procedure.

One of the conditions for candidacy for the People’s Assembly is that the candidate must be an Arab Syrian for not less than ten years and must not hold any nationality other than the Syrian.

The director of the Syrian Lawyers Association, Ghazwan Kurunful, said to Enab Baladi that the stripping of membership is related to article “152” of the constitution.

The mentioned article stipulates that “no one holding another nationality in addition to the Syrian Arab nationality shall hold the position of President of the Republic, or membership in the People’s Assembly, or membership in the Supreme Constitutional Court.”

Kurunful attributed the reason for the parliamentarians reaching the People’s Assembly without verifying whether the person was of dual nationality or not beforehand to “negligence,” describing it as a “procedural error.”

Who is Mohammad Hamsho?

He is a Syrian businessman, born in Damascus, and considered a front and close partner of Maher al-Assad, brother of the Syrian regime’s president.

He held the position of Secretary of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce and Secretary of the Union of Syrian Chambers of Commerce.

Hamsho was also a member of the People’s Assembly, representing Damascus from 2016 to 2020, and president of the board of directors of both the Hamsho International Group, which encompasses around 20 subsidiary companies, and the Syrian-Chinese Businessmen Council, as well as dozens of other companies.

Hamsho was placed on the US sanctions list in 2011 for providing support and working for the benefit of Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher, and Hamsho International Group, which he owns and includes nearly 20 affiliated companies, was also included in the sanctions lists.

He is considered one of the first characters upon whom the European Union imposed sanctions, in addition to the sanctions imposed by the United States.

Hamsho was excluded from the Board of Directors of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce after a German media report published in 2020, due to his inclusion on the sanctions list of the European Union and the United States, barring him from entering Germany.

Vague decrees to pursue MPs

The People’s Assembly had made amendments to several articles within its internal system on May 8, 2024, concerning the parliamentary immunity of its members.

According to the amendments, the Minister of Defense can submit a request to lift the immunity of a member of the Assembly if the prosecution is related to military jurisdiction, whereas this was previously limited to the Minister of Justice and civil courts only.

The Assembly is obliged to decide on the request to lift immunity within two months from the date of receipt of the request, with a specified duration not exceeding ten days for each stage of considering the request, to expedite the procedures.

Amendments to several articles pertaining to parliamentary immunity in Syria for its members – May 8, 2024 (Official Gazette of Syria)

Amendments to several articles pertaining to parliamentary immunity in Syria for its members – May 8, 2024 (Official Gazette of Syria)

The amendments came in the wake of the case of Assembly member Fouad Aldani, who was accused of violations related to fuel smuggling that resulted in the loss of billions of Syrian pounds.

On March 29, the People’s Assembly lifted the parliamentary immunity of Aldani based on the request of the Minister of Justice, which included granting permission for legal prosecution against Aldani involved in corruption cases.

According to a research paper published by a researcher at the Omaran Center for Strategic Studies, Mohsen al-Mustafa, last July, he stated that there are dual objectives behind the recent amendments made by the People’s Assembly concerning immunity.

On one hand, the regime sends a message to the new members who reached the People’s Assembly during the recent elections that they are under surveillance and can be prosecuted legally, and that the parliamentary immunity they are supposed to enjoy is under the authority of the regime.

On the other hand, the regime benefits from the recent amendments to maintain its control over the members of the People’s Assembly and reinforces their loyalty to it, especially since the recent People’s Assembly elections did not yield many changes.