Masyaf () was an electoral district used to elect members of the Syrian Chamber of Deputies between 1928 and 1963. Masyaf was, until 1936, part of Alawite State and thus didn't participate in earlier Syrian parliamentary elections. Following the Alawite State’s incorporation into Syria, the first elections in The electoral district were held in late 1937. The districts of Jableh and Baniyas were part of The electoral district of Masyaf until 1943. Electoral system
Under the 1928 electoral system, Syria adopted its first formal electoral law after the Ottoman period and under the French Mandate. Promulgated by arrêté No. 1889 of High Commissioner Ponsot, the system created a two-tier indirect electoral system. Male citizens over the age of 21 would elect secondary electors, at a ratio of one elector per hundred first-tier voters, who would then elect members of parliament. The number of seats was determined before every election based on the proportional population size of each electoral district, with seats allocated across religious communities according to their numerical share. The system was criticised for entrenching the influence of local notables, elites, and landowners, with limited direct popular participation.
In 1947, the government of Jamil Mardam Bey introduced a new direct electoral system. The system was applied for the first time in the 1947 elections and was amended twice, in 1954 and 1961. It remained in force through the 1961 elections and until the fall of the Second Republic in 1963.
Until 1949, the electorate consisted of Syrian men aged 20 and over. Following Husni al-Za'im's seizure of power, the voting age was lowered to 18 and women were granted the right to vote. The subsequent Hashim al-Atassi government retained the lower voting age but restricted women's suffrage to literate women only, without the right to stand for election. It was not until the 1954 elections, held under the 1950 constitution, that women of all educational backgrounds were granted equal rights to vote and stand for office.
Deputies +Elections Deputy(Party) Deputy(Party) Deputy(Party) Deputy(Party) 1937 Omar al-Bitar(N/A) Muhammed Suleiman al-Ahmad(National Bloc) Muhammad Hassan Asber(N/A) Janem Khaddour(N/A) 1943 Muhammad Junayd(N/A) 1 seat 1947 Jihad al-Hawwash(N/A) 2 seats 1949 Hamid Mansur al-Khadr(N/A) 1953 Jihad al-Hawwash(N/A) 1 seat Muhammad Junayd(N/A) Hamid Mansur al-Khadr(N/A) 2 seats 1954 (Oct) Jihad al-Hawwash(N/A) Abd al-Hadi Abbas(N/A) 1957 rowspan="2" Qahtan al-Hawwash(Ba'ath Party) 1961 Muhammad Maaruf(Ba'ath Party) Abd al-Hadi Ahmad(Ba'ath Party) 3 seats
Notes
References