At stake in this election:

• 250 seats in the People's Council (Majlis al-Shaab)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Bashar al-ASAD
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-UTRI
• Assembly: Syria has a unicameral People's Council (Majlis al-Shaab) with 250 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is approved by popular referendum to serve a 7-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by parliament.
• In the People's Council (Majlis al-Shaab) 250 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** Only parties participating in the National Progressive Front (NPF) have been legally permitted to operate in Syria. The NPF includes the Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party of President Bashar al-ASAD, the Socialist Unionist Democratic Party, the Syrian Arab Socialist Union (ASU), the Syrian Communist Party, the Syrian Social National Party, and the Unionist Socialist Party.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Coalition: National Progressive Front (NFP) / لجبهة الوطنية التقدمية‎, al-Jabha al-Wataniyyah at-Taqaddumiyyah
  • Leader: Bashar al-ASAD
  • Seats won in this election: 172
  • Seats won in last election: 167
• Independent(s): Independents
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 78
  • Seats won in last election: 83

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 19,314,747 (July 2007)
• Registered Voters: 7,805,994 (May 2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 9,529,634 (2007)

·         Is Syria a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Syria ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (28 March 2003)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 30 (following the 2007 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 134 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Syria a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Syria ratified CRPD: Yes (10 July 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 2,897,212 (est.)