The newly formed Syrian People's Assembly held its inaugural session on Sunday, electing Abdel Hamid Aqil Al-Awak as its Speaker after he received 99 votes.
This marks him as the first speaker of the Syrian parliament since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Who is Abdel Hamid Al-Awak?
Born in Hasaka in 1966, Al-Awak holds a law degree from Aleppo University (1990), a diploma in public law from the Islamic University, a master's in administrative law from the Islamic University in Lebanon (2009), and a Ph.D. in constitutional law from Beirut Arab University, according to the "SANA" agency.
Al-Awak served as the Director of Legal Affairs at the Directorate of the Tigris and Khabur Basin from 1993 to 1998 and worked as a judge with an advisory rank in the Syrian Ministry of Justice from 1998 to 2014 for ten years.
Before assuming his new role, he was a legal advisor to the Stability Support Unit, a member of the Draft Constitutional Declaration Committee, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey since 2016, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Al-Furat University.
Publications and Research
Al-Awak has written several books, refereed articles, conference papers, policy papers, and research published in study centers. His notable works include "The Social Contract and Local Community Aspirations," "Syria's Future Constitution: Expert and Community Perspectives," "Introduction to Legal Science," "Federalism in Syria: Contemporary Challenges," "Centralism and Decentralism in Syria: Theory and Practice," "Security Change in Syria," and "Administrative and Contractor Liability for Damages from Public Works Contracts."
The People's Assembly session took place Sunday with President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and the head of the Supreme Committee for Council Elections Mohammed Al-Ahmad, along with 206 assembly members and several ministers, as reported by 'SANA'.
Members were sworn in, electing Abdel Hamid Al-Awak as Speaker, Mustafa Moussa as the first deputy, Madona Bishara as the second deputy, and Moeyad Habib as secretary.
Since former President Bashar al-Assad was deposed in December 2024, the new authorities led by Al-Sharaa have executed a series of measures for managing the transitional phase. These included dissolving the People's Assembly, signing a constitutional declaration defining the transitional period as five years, and specifying the election mechanism for the People's Assembly to exercise powers until a permanent constitution is drafted and elections are conducted on that basis, according to Agence France-Presse.