Syria to hold 1st post-Assad parliamentary elections on Oct. 5

Syria will hold parliamentary elections next month, the first polls since last year's ouster of the Bashar al-Assad regime, the electoral commission said Sunday.

The commission said in a statement that the vote will be held in all constituencies on Oct. 5.

According to a presidential decree issued by President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Aug. 27, 140 of the 210 members of the People's Assembly (parliament) will be elected, while 70 will be directly appointed by the president himself.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia last December, ending the Ba'ath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. A new transitional administration led by al-Sharaa was formed in January.