Syria’s post-Assad parliament, which held its opening session in July 2026, marks a significant — if still numerically limited — shift in the country’s legislative landscape. Women hold 22 of the 207 currently filled seats in the new assembly, representing just over 10 per cent of total membership, a share broadly comparable to the proportion seen under former president Bashar al-Assad. Yet what distinguishes this cohort is not their count but their composition: a television actress, a Christian civil engineering professor, a Kurdish community leader, a novelist, and the first niqab-wearing lawmaker in Syrian history now sit within the same legislative chamber.
With 15 of the 22 women directly appointed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa under Syria’s transitional constitutional framework, analysts note the appointments reflect a deliberate effort by the new authorities to signal inclusivity — one made more urgent by persistent criticism that women and ethnic and religious minorities have been systematically under-represented in Syria’s post-war transition institutions.
A Dramatic Arts Graduate Enters the Assembly With No Political Background
Rouzaina Lazkani, 36, is among Syria’s best-known television actresses. Trained in dramatic arts in Damascus, she described her path to parliament as entirely unexpected. Lazkani was notified of her appointment just two days before it was made public, telling interviewers she initially believed a colleague was playing a joke on her.
“I thought one of my colleagues was playing a trick on me,” she said in a televised interview.
Lazkani hails from Hama, a city in central Syria carrying deep historical trauma: in 1982, Hafez al-Assad — father of the deposed ruler — ordered a violent crackdown on a Muslim Brotherhood revolt there that killed thousands of civilians. Her appointment, drawn from an apolitical entertainment background, caught many political observers off guard.
Acknowledging the weight of her new role, Lazkani was candid about her limitations. “I am certainly not well-versed in politics,” she said, adding that “at this stage, I feel I deserve prayers more than blessings.”
A Christian Engineer Now Serving as Deputy Speaker Calls Women’s Presence “A Good Start”
Madonna Beshara, 38, holds one of the assembly’s most senior positions: deputy speaker of parliament. Before her appointment by Sharaa, she was a civil engineering professor. Speaking to AFP from her parliamentary office in Damascus, Beshara described her reaction as “a mixture of joy and responsibility.”
She was direct about the limits of current female representation. “The number of women may not fully represent the importance of the presence of women in Syrian society, but it is a good start,” she said, framing the current composition as a foundation rather than a conclusion.
As a devout Christian in a parliament shaped largely by an Islamist political transition, Beshara has articulated an ambitious legislative vision. She expressed hope that the assembly would deliver “a legislative revolution befitting Syria” — one guaranteeing the safety of all citizens after more than 13 years of civil war.
A Kurdish Lawmaker Elected From Hasakeh Carries a Double Mandate
Fasla Yousef, 56, was selected through an electoral body in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, and is a member of the Kurdish National Council — a coalition of parties that opposed Assad’s rule but remained separate from the autonomous Kurdish administration that governed large swathes of northern and northeastern Syria for years.
Yousef attended her first parliamentary session dressed in traditional Kurdish attire, a symbolic gesture reflecting the dual mandate she described openly.
“We represent all Syrians, while I am also a representative of the Kurdish community and people, so I have double the responsibility,” she said.
Her election comes at a politically sensitive moment for Syria’s Kurdish population. A January 2026 integration agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish administration effectively ended Kurdish aspirations for self-rule, a development that continues to generate concern within the minority community. Yousef, whose constituency has a strong tradition of gender equality, said she intends to work specifically on “defending women’s rights and enshrining them in the country’s constitution.”
A Novelist and Veteran Activist From Homs Vows to Break From the Assad-Era Legislature
Nour Jandali, 48, was appointed by Sharaa as a representative for Homs, one of the earliest and most enduring centres of anti-Assad protests during Syria’s civil war. A novelist with more than 20 published books, Jandali lived through siege and years of exile.
Her framing of the new parliament is explicitly comparative. Under Assad, she told AFP, lawmakers functioned as “tools in the hands of the authorities.” She entered the assembly, she said, with one purpose: “to bring about change.”
Jandali described the new assembly as a potential forum for cross-community dialogue. “We are eager to talk and understand each other in a different way,” she said, expressing hope that parliament would become “a space to open dialogue for all Syrians from all backgrounds.”
Syria’s First Niqab-Wearing MP Brings a Personal Connection to the Jihadist Era
Mirvat Toutou holds a degree in commerce and economics and spent 13 years as a teacher in Idlib, in northwestern Syria, before her appointment by Sharaa. She is the first lawmaker in Syrian history to wear the full-face Islamic niqab veil inside the assembly.
Her personal history intersects directly with Syria’s jihadist past. Her late husband, Abu Omar Saraqeb, commanded a coalition of Islamist and jihadist factions that seized control of Idlib in 2015; he was killed in an airstrike the following year. Sharaa — himself a former jihadist commander — headed one of the factions in that coalition at the time. In one of his first interviews after taking power in December 2024, Sharaa cited Abu Omar as someone he thought of when he entered Damascus.
Last year, Sharaa received Toutou at the presidential palace during a ceremony honouring the families of what the new government terms “martyrs.”
A Controversial Early Appointee Sparked Debate Over Women’s Roles Before Leaving Office
The assembly also includes Aisha al-Dibs, the first woman appointed to a governmental position by the new authorities. She headed Syria’s women’s affairs office for several months but no longer holds that role. Al-Dibs became widely known after publicly urging women “not to go beyond the priorities of their God-given nature” and to focus on “their educational role in the family” — remarks that generated significant controversy and international criticism.
Her trajectory illustrates the tensions inherent in a legislature that simultaneously seeks to project inclusivity and remains rooted in an Islamist-led political transition.
Syria’s new parliament remains a work in progress: not all 207 seats have been filled since the opening session in July 2026. But the women who have taken their seats already embody the breadth — and the contradictions — of a country trying to legislate its way out of more than a decade of war. — AFP
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