Syria is holding parliamentary elections for the first time since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, a landmark moment in the country’s fragile transition after nearly 14 years of war.

Members of Syria’s electoral colleges gathered on Sunday to vote for the new lawmakers in a process being criticised as undemocratic, with a third of the 210 members of the revamped People’s Assembly appointed by interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The remaining representatives will not be voted on directly by the people, but chosen instead by electoral colleges around the country.

Critics say the system favours well-connected figures and is likely to keep power concentrated in the hands of Syria’s new rulers, rather than paving the way for genuine democratic change.

In a joint statement last

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