Sources: Syrian Parliament's 1st session to be held next Sunday

Special sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the inaugural session of the Syrian Parliament is set to take place next Sunday, following the postponement of the session that had originally been scheduled for last Monday.

The sources said that the Higher Elections Committee is considering amendments to the procedures governing the inaugural session, allowing it to convene even if the head of the Interim Government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is unable to attend, in accordance with the provisions of the temporary electoral regulations.

The decision to postpone the opening session, despite the arrival of both elected and appointed members in Damascus and the completion of their preparations to participate, raised questions about the actual reasons behind the delay.

The Higher Elections Committee, which is responsible for administering the affairs of the parliament until its first session is convened, has not issued any official explanation for the postponement. It merely announced that the session had been deferred to a date to be determined later, according to a circular distributed to media outlets.

However, informed sources previously told ANHA agency that several procedural arrangements are still being finalized, chief among them the mechanism for administering the constitutional oath, following a proposal to change it from an individual oath-taking process to a collective one.

The proposal has raised questions over whether the adoption of a collective oath is intended to prevent lawmakers from taking the constitutional oath in languages other than Arabic or using formulations reflecting different religious affiliations, particularly as several members of parliament, especially Kurdish and Turkmen representatives, had previously announced in statements and social media posts their intention to take the oath in their native languages.

The same sources also indicated that the mechanism for determining the winners in the elections for the Speaker of Parliament, the two Deputy Speakers, and the Secretary of the Assembly has yet to be finalized. The Constitutional Declaration stipulates that these positions are to be filled through a secret ballot and by "a majority," without specifying whether this refers to an absolute majority (50 percent plus one), a majority of members present, or simply the candidate receiving the highest number of votes. According to the sources, the issue remains under discussion ahead of the parliament's inaugural session.