Newly-elected Syria Parliament Holds First Session

Thousands demonstrated in Syria on March 15, 2012 in support of the government of Bashar al-Assad. The gathering was designed to mark the first anniversary of the western-backed rebellion inside the country., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Newly-elected Syria parliament holds first session

English.news.cn 2012-05-25 11:12:58

BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria's newly-elected parliament has held its first session on Thursday. The main task of the meeting was the election of a speaker and members of the parliament’s office. The head of the Damascus lawyers’ syndicate becomes the new speaker of the Syrian parliament.

Mohammed Jihad al-Laham is a member of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s Baath party. The party has a large majority of seats in the 250-member parliament.

The Assembly’s members were sworn-in at the first meeting of the newly elected body. On May 7, parliamentarian elections were carried out under a new constitution that allows a multi-party system and ends the monopoly of power by the ruling Baath party. The electoral process was supervised by an independent judicial committee.

One of the biggest changes in the new parliament is the arrival of opposition figures for the first time. The Syrian Foreign Ministry has called the vote a new experience for Syria. But opposition parties say they still want to improve the situation and are not satisfied by the election.

Ali Haider with National Front Change & Liberation Party said, "We cannot agree with the process of this election. We even disagree with what the Supreme Court has done. But we still attend this session of the parliament in order to find a correct political way. We participate in the meeting, not because we agree with every proposal, but to find political solution to the Syrian crisis."

(Source: CNTV.cn)