A legislative decree has been issued to conduct elections for two vacant seats in the People’s Assembly, following the disqualification of some members of the assembly.
The head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, issued decree “No. 274” for the year 2024, setting December 7 as the date for the elections, according to what was reported by the official Syrian News Agency (SANA) on Saturday, November 2.
The legislative elections will fill two vacant seats in the electoral districts of Aleppo (Sector A) and Tartus (Sector B).
The announcement of the election date came after several members of the People’s Assembly were disqualified in October, in Aleppo and Damascus, but the announced elections did not include the Damascus district.
Shadi Debsi’s membership was revoked; he was mentioned in the electoral list for Aleppo (Sector A) on the SANA website, leaving his seat vacant in the assembly.
On October 10, the assembly approved a report from its office proposing the disqualification of Shadi Debsi based on Article “243” of the assembly’s internal system due to his acquisition of Turkish citizenship.
In Tartus province, member of the People’s Assembly Tony Aziz Hanna resigned, also listed in the election lists for Tartus (Sector B) on the SANA website.
Hanna’s resignation came after he was appointed governor of Quneitra by a presidential decree from Bashar al-Assad on October 17.
The decree did not address other vacant seats in the People’s Assembly whose memberships were previously revoked in Damascus.
On October 22, the local Al-Watan newspaper reported that the People’s Assembly unanimously voted to disqualify Mohammed Hamsho due to his acquisition of Turkish citizenship as well.
One of the conditions for candidacy in the People’s Assembly is that the candidate must be an Arab Syrian for no less than ten years and hold no other nationality besides Syrian.
Also, last March, approval was issued for the legal pursuit of assembly member Fouad Aldani, whose name was linked to violations and corruption cases, primarily regarding the misappropriation of 300,000 liters of diesel in 2023.
The People’s Assembly had amended several articles within its internal system on May 8, 2024, related to the parliamentary immunity of its members.
According to the amendments, the Minister of Defense can now request the lifting of immunity for an assembly member if the accusation is related to military judiciary, whereas this was previously restricted to the Minister of Justice and civil courts only.
The assembly is obligated to decide on the request to lift immunity within two months from the date of receipt, with a timeframe not exceeding ten days for each stage of consideration of the request, aimed at expediting the procedures.