At a politically sensitive moment, all eyes are on Damascus, where the chapters of the first legislative elections after a decade of conflict and divisions are being written.

The elections were described by Syrian authorities as “historic,” while critics saw them as merely a “political façade” that reinforces the status quo—between those who view them as the start of a “transitional democracy” and those who believe they are a reproduction of the old system in a new form.

Political writer and researcher Bassem Al-Suleiman told Sky News Arabia that these elections are a “necessary step within the context of transitional exception,” explaining that “the current phase cannot accommodate full democratic standards but requires interim solutions to ensure the transition of legislative authority and fill the institutional void.”

The Supreme Committee for Parliamentary Elections has issued the preliminary results.