File photo: Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (Picture credit: AP)

DAMASCUS: Syria on Sunday held its first parliamentary elections, nearly a year after a rebel-led offensive unseated longtime autocratic leader Bashar Assad. The People’s Assembly will be tasked with passing a new elections law and constitution as the country moves through post-Assad political transition after more than a decade of civil war.Across the country, security forces were deployed around polling stations. Inside, electoral college members entered polling booths to fill out their ballot papers with lists of names that were then placed in a sealed box until they were pulled out and counted before candidates, scribes, and observers from Syrian bar association.There was no direct popular vote in this election. Two-thirds of the 210-member assembly seats will be elected through province-based electoral colleges, while one-third will be appointed directly by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The new parliament will serve a 30-month term while preparing for future elections.In theory, 7,000 electoral college members across 60 districts are eligible to vote for 140 seats, but elections were postponed indefinitely in Sweida province and in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces due to tensions between the local authorities and Damascus. “There are many pending laws that need to be voted on so that we move forward with the process of building and prosperity,” al-Sharaa said in a speech. Critics argue the elections fall short of full democracy, noting that the electoral college system may favour well-connected candidates, consolidating power within the interim government. But for others, the election was a sign of progress.