The Constituent Assembly () was the legislative body of the Second Syrian Republic formed following the 1949 Syrian Constituent Assembly election. It was tasked with drafting the new Constitution of the Syrian Republic after the fall of Hosni al-Zaim's rule. After the adoption of the Constitution in 1950, the Constituent Assembly declared itself a Chamber of Deputies in accordance with the provisions of the new Constitution.
Background
Following the March 1949 coup led by Husni al-Za'im, constitutional life in Syria was suspended. Subsequent coups, including that of Sami al-Hinnawi in August 1949, led to the restoration of civilian rule and the decision to elect a constituent assembly.
Elections were held on 15 November 1949, resulting in the formation of a 114-member assembly representing major political forces, including the National and People's parties, as well as independents. Notably, the elections saw the entry of the first representative of the Ba'ath Party into parliament.
Voter turnout was reportedly low relative to the elections' significance, reaching no more than 45% in Damascus and 31% in Aleppo. This was attributed in part to the National Party's call for a boycott, after the al-Atassi government refused to reinstate the 1930 constitution or reconvene the parliament that had been dissolved by Husni al-Za'im, treating the new election as a substitute for that reconvening. Despite this, the election was widely regarded as the first free parliamentary election in modern Syrian history, conducted by secret ballot under close government supervision; both partisan Islamist and left-nationalist newspapers described it at the time as among the most transparent elections held in Syria to that date, and local and foreign journalists alike noted a degree of electoral freedom without precedent in the Levant.
Government Prime Minister Party Term of office Government Nazim al-Qudsi al-Qudsi I Khalid al-Azm K. al-Azm III Nazim al-Qudsi al-Qudsi II
Bureau Position Name Party Tenure Speaker Rushdi al-Kikhya Deputy Speakers Zaki al-Khatib Raif al-Malqi Secretary Esber al-Yaziji Muhammad al-Mubarak Abd al-Salam Haydar Overseer Said Ishaq Ahmad Qanbar Abd al-Qadir Rahmu
Elections of the Burea 12 December 1949 The Constituent Assembly elected its bureau on the first sitting on 12 December 1949.
Members
Committees To fulfil its constituent function, the Assembly elected a committee of 33 deputies tasked with drafting the constitution. Deputies were divided into three parliamentary sections to elect the committee members. The committee elected its Bureau on 4 January as follows: Committees Burea PartyConstitution CommitteeChair Nazim al-Qudsi (until 4 June) Said Haydar (from 23 July) Vice-Chair Zaki al-Khatib (until 4 June) Latif Ghanima (from 23 July) Rapporteur Abdul-Wahab Hawmad
Despite being a constituent assembly, the Assembly also maintained the standard parliamentary committees. Except for the Foreign Affairs Committee, which was elected on 3 and 4 March, the parliamentary committees were elected on 18 April 1950 in the same manner as the Constitution Committee. On 22 April, the committees elected their Bureaux as follows: Committees Burea PartyAgriculture CommitteeChair Mahmoud al-Azm Vice-Chair Faiq Manan Ismail Zadeh Rapporteur Jadallah Izz al-Din Budget CommitteeChair Said Ishaq Vice-Chair Muhammad Khayr al-Hariri Rapporteur Hamid al-Khoja Education CommitteeChair Munir al-Ajlani Vice-Chair Issam al-Mahayiri Rapporteur Aref al-Turuqji Financial Laws CommitteeChair Said Haydar (until 22 July) Muhammad al-Shawwaf (from 23 July) Vice-Chair Rapporteur Rizqallah Antaki Foreign Affairs Committee(Bureau was elected on 29 June)Chair Jalal al-Sayyid Arab Ba'ath MovementVice-Chair Said Ishaq Rapporteur Muhammad Ata al-Jirudi Health and Social Affairs CommitteeChair George Shalhub Vice-Chair Dikran Jerejian Rapporteur Muhammad al-Ashuri Interior CommitteeChair Ali Bozo Vice-Chair Ihsan al-Hisni Rapporteur Abdullah al-Tamer Judicial CommitteeChair Said Haydar Vice-Chair Latif Ghanima Rapporteur Muhammad Ata al-Jirudi National Defense CommitteeChair Farid Marhaj Vice-Chair Ilyas Dummar Rapporteur Abd al-Aziz Hasan National Economy CommitteeChair Hassan al-Hakim Vice-Chair Shakir al-Aas Rapporteur Hamid al-Khoja Petitions CommitteeChair Ahmad Qanbar Vice-Chair Qadri al-Mufti Rapporteur Anwar Ibrahim Pasha Public Works CommitteeChair Nazim Said al-Kayyali Vice-Chair Khalil Bashur Rapporteur Muhammad al-Ashuri
Constitutional work
The Constitution Committee held preliminary meetings and elected two subcommittees, a preparatory committee and a smaller drafting committee. The preparatory committee met 45 times to deliberate proposals from the drafting committee, reviewing around fifteen European and Asian constitutions, including several Arab constitutions. The consolidated findings of both subcommittees were then referred to the general Constitution Committee for revision; the general committee held more than 29 meetings and read the draft constitution twice before presenting it to the Assembly for approval, amendment, or rejection in April 1950. The drafting process across all three committees took roughly three months.
The draft was not adopted outright, owing to disagreement over several contested articles. The Assembly elected a joint cross-party committee to reach a compromise on these provisions, which concluded its work in July 1950. Despite the December 1949 coup led by Adib Shishakli, the Assembly continued its work, and a majority approved the committee's final amendments on 5 September 1950.
The adopted constitution affirmed, in its first article, Syria's Arab character, its republican parliamentary system, and its status as an indivisible political unit. Its second article declared that sovereignty belonged to the people, on the principle of "government of the people, by the people, and for the people" — a formulation drawing on North American and French constitutional models, adapted with the added qualifiers "democratic" and "sovereign" to suit Syria's political circumstances at the time. Article 3, concerning the state religion, generated extensive debate; it was ultimately retained in the same form as in the 1930 constitution, requiring only that the President of the Republic be Muslim while guaranteeing freedom of belief for all citizens regardless of sect.
The constitution was noted for provisions on individual freedoms and social and economic equality (Article 28), including the right to work (Article 26), state protections on working hours and conditions and the right to unionise (Article 29), and provisions expanding education, particularly in rural areas (Article 28). Commentators have contrasted it with the 1930 constitution for its greater emphasis on civic rights and public freedoms and its stronger social and economic reform agenda. Constitution Committee chair Abdul-Wahab Hawmad described the document's achievement in this area as addressing basic material needs, calling it "a matter of bread and an empty stomach." Muslim Brotherhood-aligned leader Mustafa al-Siba'i praised the constitution as the first in Syria issued by a body elected by the nation itself, independent of foreign or authoritarian influence.
The constitution has also been criticised for including articles that were difficult to amend, reflecting the drafting elite's concerns, following two successive coups, that politicians or the military might otherwise exploit constitutional flexibility for their own advantage. Historian Gordon Torrey noted that the document's more than 160 detailed articles left it open to extensive reinterpretation, given its focus on specific provisions rather than foundational principles.
Conversion into the Chamber of Deputies
Article 165, appended to the end of the constitution, provided for the Constituent Assembly's conversion into a parliamentary chamber. Although President Hashim al-Atassi was expected to dissolve the Assembly and call new parliamentary elections, the People's Party, which held a majority within the Assembly, feared that new elections might return the National Party to power or bring in rival leftist forces. It accordingly persuaded independent members of the importance of converting the Assembly directly into a parliament, to avoid a return to political instability.
A majority of the Assembly agreed to the conversion, assuming the parliamentary powers set out under the new constitution. The constitution was formally promulgated the following day, on 5 September 1950.
See also Constituent Assembly (Syria, 1928–1929) Constituent and Parliamentary Assembly
References