Syrian parliamentary elections are in March

The Syrian Official news Agency SANA announced that the next legislative elections will be held in Syria on March 2nd according to a decree issued yesterday by President Bashar al-Assad.

These elections, however, will be the first legislative voting to take place in Syria since President Bashar al-Assad came to power in July 2000. The decree which was published by SANA said that 127 out of the 250 members of the Syrian People's Assembly (parliament) will represent "the workers and the peasants" and the other 123 will represent "other social strata."

The parliament whose current term of office has expired includes 135 parliamentarians for the Baath Party, 32 others for the Progressive National Front -- a coalition that includes seven parties led by the Baath Party, and 83 independents.

However, the recent legislative term of office expired on December 16, 2002. The Syrian constitution calls for legislative elections within the 90 days which follow the end of the parliament's duration which started in 1998.