Dozens of women took part in a protest in Aleppo to denounce what they said was a lack of women’s representation in the newly appointed People’s Assembly. The protest took place in the square opposite Aleppo University, with women calling for greater representation in the People’s Assembly and for officials to reconsider the appointment process.
The announcement comes as Syria , on 1 July, announced the remaining names of 70 MPs appointed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa , and set the date for the opening of Syria’s People’s Assembly.
Following the fall of Assad, it was decided in March 2025 that there would be a five-year transitional period, with a 210-member parliament. The president appoints one-third of the legislature's members, while the rest are chosen indirectly through electoral committees.
However, women at the protest said they felt the final appointments did not reflect the role Syrian women had played during the revolution, nor their contributions to various industries, including politics and the humanitarian sector. 'No symbolic representation, empty promises' Speaking to The New Arab , Ranim Ahmed of The Syria Campaign said it was "unacceptable" that the transitional authorities have failed to properly recognise the sacrifices women have made.
“Syria’s women have long been sidelined and oppressed, under both Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, and across different parts of the country by different actors, including in areas that were under HTS control,” she said.
“Yet over the past years, they have carried the burden of holding together their families and communities. They have risked their lives working in displacement camps, hospitals, and as White Helmets volunteers rescuing people from under the rubble and providing care. They have led civil society initiatives, documented violations, advocated for justice for Syria’s disappeared, and continued to participate in public and political life despite immense challenges,” she added. Syria’s Arab News Agency (SANA) said the country’s parliament is currently made up of 206 active members, of whom 22 are women, representing approximately 10.5% of the chamber.
The agency also states 15 women entered parliament through the presidential appointments, while seven were elected through the electoral bodies.
The presidential list revealed on Wednesday showed only one woman among the appointees from Aleppo. Only one other female from Aleppo has been chosen through the electoral process.
“The women protesting in Aleppo are a reminder of that resilience. They are not asking for symbolic representation or empty promises, but demanding our rightful place, a place we have already earned through years of leadership, sacrifice, and struggle,” Ahmed said.
The women at the protest said their anger was not directed at an individual, but rather the selection process, and that their main message was to emphasise that Syrian women have never been on the margins, and have always been active participants and the head of major movements and initiatives.
Aisha al-Khatib, an activist and expert on women’s rights issues, told SyriaTV that the percentage of women’s representation from Aleppo is under one percent, which is not representative of women’s abilities and contributions in the governorate.
Yafa Mohammed, a protester, also told the news outlet that the percentage of representation was “shameful”, and noted that other governorates had more women appointed, questioning why this was the case. Justice and inclusivity Jomana Hasan, a Syrian activist and writer, told The New Arab that women in Syria do not just want token roles, as they played a fundamental part of the revolution and are highly competent, experienced, and have a strong sense of national responsibility.
“The issue of excluding women from places where real decisions are made in Syria goes much deeper than the number of seats allocated to women in parliament. It is about an entire approach that confines our role to symbolic and superficial positions, used only to present a better image,” she said.
“What is needed is real representation, not just decoration and numbers. Even so, the numbers themselves are shameful—we have not even achieved meaningful representation numerically,” she added.
Hasan said that given the number of women in the political scene in Aleppo, the small number of appointments to the People’s Assembly was surprising, and considered to be possibly deliberate or unimportant by others.
“I think there are other governorates where there may not have been any women at all. But this is not about appeasing anyone or filling quotas… there are issues and priorities in the country that I do not believe anyone is better positioned to raise and fight for than Syrian women. And if we are talking about justice, then justice requires the inclusion of women in both the executive and legislative bodies,” she continued.