Syria's Kurds enter first parliamentary vote under Damascus-SDF deal

Shafaq News- Al-Hasakah

Polling stations opened Sunday in al-Hasakah province for elections to Syria's People's Assembly, the first parliamentary vote held in areas under Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control and part of the implementation of the January 29 agreement between the SDF and the Damascus government.

Al-Hasakah province has been allocated nine assembly seats: four for Qamishli, three for al-Hasakah city, and two for Derik (Al-Malikiyah), according to Syria's election authorities. A combined electoral college of 448 vetted members across the three districts will elect those nine representatives.

In Al-Hasakah city, 13 candidates are contesting three seats. In Qamishli, seven candidates are competing for four seats. In Derik, two candidates registered for the district's two allocated seats.

The three cities are participating under a hybrid mechanism established by the transitional constitutional declaration signed by Syrian transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa, under which the president appoints roughly 70 of the assembly's 210 members —approximately one-third— while the remaining two-thirds are elected through local electoral colleges. Under this indirect model, only pre-approved members within each constituency are eligible to vote, and it is those members who determine which candidates fill the seats allocated to their district.

The broader People's Assembly elections were held nationally on October 5, 2025, when 126 members were elected across Syria's provinces. Kurdish-administered areas and Sweida province were excluded at that stage due to political and security conditions; Sunday's vote brings those areas into the process.

The elections follow months of negotiations between Damascus and the SDF over integrating Kurdish-administered territories into Syrian state institutions, preserving aspects of local administration, and resolving the future of SDF-linked security forces.