Enab Baladi – Muwafaq al-Khouja
The recent actions taken against members of the People’s Assembly affiliated with the Syrian regime raise questions about their background and motives, and whether these are intended messages or routine legal procedures.
The Syrian People’s Assembly has issued a series of decisions in recent months against its members, ranging from revoking and suspending memberships to lifting immunity and initiating legal prosecution.
The latest of these decisions was the permission for legal prosecution of the two members, Ayham Jreikos and Madloul al-Aziz, on November 4.
The reasons for the prosecution remain unclear, but a lawsuit had been filed against Madloul al-Aziz in April 2023, concerning charges related to smuggling prohibited goods (fuel, cigarettes, sheep, weapons, foodstuffs, medical devices), amounting to 16 billion Syrian pounds.
Al-Aziz was acquitted along with two others who faced the same charge, according to a post he made on Facebook on June 25.
As for Jreikos, he is originally from Latakia and ran for the People’s Assembly as a candidate of the ruling Baath Party in Syria, having served in the Assembly from 2016 to 2020.
This recent action against the mentioned members follows the regime’s revocation of the memberships of three members from the People’s Assembly due to their possession of other nationalities, in addition to their Syrian nationality.
The most recent revocation occurred on November 3, related to Anas al-Khatib from Damascus, whose membership was revoked due to his possession of Jordanian nationality alongside Syrian nationality.
He was preceded by the revocation of the memberships of two others for possessing Turkish nationality: the first, Shadi Dibs, on October 10, who ran for office from Aleppo in the last election, and the second, Mohammad Hamsho, on October 22.
Hamsho is a business front and closely linked to Maher al-Assad, the head of the Fourth Division and the brother of the Syrian regime’s president, Bashar al-Assad. He was a member of the People’s Assembly during the 2016-2020 term.
Lawyer Ghazwan Kurunful stated in a previous interview with Enab Baladi that the revocation of the membership in the People’s Assembly came under Article “152” of the Syrian Constitution, which prohibits anyone holding another nationality, in addition to Syrian citizenship, from holding leadership positions in Syria, including membership in the People’s Assembly.
Article “152” of the Syrian Constitution
No one who holds another nationality, in addition to Arabic Syrian nationality, may hold the positions of President of the Republic, Vice President, Prime Minister or his deputies, ministers, or membership in the People’s Assembly or the Supreme Constitutional Court.
What lies behind the procedures?
Researcher at the Omar Center for Strategic Studies, Ayman al-Dusouki, stated to Enab Baladi that the recent measures against members of the People’s Assembly can be interpreted in several ways.
One interpretation is that they are settling scores between factions within the Syrian regime, pointing to the role of entities outside the Assembly in the recent decisions.
Al-Dusouki noted the presence of members associated with influential figures in the Syrian regime, most notably Mohammad Hamsho, who is close to Maher al-Assad, “who has notable relations with Iran and Hezbollah.”
Some of those ousted from the Assembly also belong to the ruling Baath Party in Syria, while others are associated with Iran and businessmen, according to al-Dusouki.
These actions might fall within the framework of the change or reform process that the Syrian regime promotes, as some of the targeted members are described as “opportunistic,” in al-Dusouki’s words.
The researcher believes that the diverse backgrounds of these parliament members, against whom the Assembly’s decisions were made, carry messages that the regime intends to promote, which he categorized in two forms.
The first is internal, suggesting that the regime will not exempt anyone from change, regardless of their position or relationships.
The second is linked to external demands concerning the reduction of Iranian influence within Syria, by removing figures with ties to Tehran from within the Assembly.
For his part, former member of the People’s Assembly, Ali al-Bash, speculated that the reason for the revocation of the memberships of the three parliament members is related to the nature of the countries from which these individuals acquired their nationality, referring to Turkey and Jordan.
Al-Bash added in a conversation with Enab Baladi that Turkey and Jordan had been supporters of the Syrian revolution since its inception in 2011.
He stated, “When an issue arises concerning one parliament member, it is generalized to all similar cases to that of the first member.”
Additionally, the regime sends a message that all Assembly members are subject to accountability, thus indicating that the regime’s reach can extend to all, according to al-Bash.
Disqualification, freezing membership, and lifting immunity
Recent decisions concerning members of the People’s Assembly have varied between disqualification, freezing membership, and lifting immunity.
Lawyer Dr. Abdul Rahman Alaff explained to Enab Baladi that freezing a member’s membership in the People’s Assembly means that they remain under the dome while their work is halted.
The reasons for freezing membership are related to legal and procedural considerations, or the member’s transition to the executive authority.
In contrast, disqualification completely halts the member’s work in the Assembly and removes them from it. The reasons for disqualification fall into two categories, according to Alaff.
The first reason pertains to laws that originally prevent candidacy, as was the case for those whose membership was suspended due to acquiring non-Syrian nationalities.
The second reason involves legal procedures, such as committing a “flagrant crime,” which leads to lifting immunity and legal persecution.
It is required for a candidate aspiring for membership in the People’s Assembly to be an Arab Syrian for no less than 10 years and to have reached the age of 25, according to statements from the head of the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections, Jihad Murad, to the Syrian official news agency (SANA) last May.
Moreover, a candidate for the People’s Assembly must enjoy their civil and political rights, not be convicted of a felony or a serious misdemeanor, and be able to read and write, as added by Murad.
According to Alaff’s explanation to Enab Baladi, the approval process for the candidacy request involves several stages. The first stage is to assess the legality of the request and ensure its validity for candidacy in the People’s Assembly.
The second stage involves objections to the candidacy request, and the Assembly’s committee or any member has the right to object to the candidate’s request, as clarified by Alaff.
Amendments on immunity
The regime made amendments to articles related to immunity and legal prosecution of the members of the People’s Assembly on May 8th.
These amendments allowed the Minister of Defense to submit a request to lift immunity for a member if the prosecution is related to military justice, while before it was only tied to civil justice and was issued solely by the Minister of Justice.
According to the amendments, the council is obligated to decide on the request to lift immunity within two months of its arrival. The process of reviewing the request is conducted in stages, with each stage not exceeding ten days “to expedite procedures.”
Assistant researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, Mohsen al-Mustafa, published a study on July 30th regarding these amendments, stating that the regime conveys two messages through these procedures.
The first message is that the regime is combating corruption and that “the law is above everyone.” The second is directed at new parliament members, indicating that they are under surveillance and may face legal repercussions.
Al-Mustafa considers these amendments to “subjugate military justice over the necks of parliament members.”
These amendments come against the backdrop of the case of parliament member Fouad Aldani, who is accused of violations related to corruption, fuel smuggling, and embezzlement of public funds.
The People’s Assembly lifted immunity from Aldani on March 29th upon the request of the Minister of Justice.
According to the researcher at the Omran Center, this case resulted in a penalty reducing the membership level in the Baath Party for party members who did not vote for lifting Aldani’s immunity.
The Syrian regime’s president, Bashar al-Assad, issued a decree setting a date for elections for two vacant seats in the People’s Assembly on December 7th.
The decree included the seats of the members whose memberships were disqualified from the districts of Aleppo and Tartus, while it did not address other vacant seats for those whose memberships were disqualified.