Who is Abdul Hamid al-Awak, speaker of Syria’s new parliament

Syria’s newly formed parliament has elected Abdul Hamid Aqil al-Awak its speaker in its inaugural session, the first since the ouster of the Assad regime in December 2024, marking the start of a new phase of institutional and constitutional governance in the country.

Al-Awak received 99 votes out of 205 ballots counted, defeating Moayad al-Qablawi, who got 75 votes, and Mohammed Korj, who secured 31.

One blank ballot was invalidated, according to Anadolu.

A native of the northeastern province of Hasakah, al-Awak previously served in both the judiciary and academia before chairing the committee that drafted Syria’s temporary constitutional declaration following the country’s recent political transition.

Born in 1966, al-Awak built his legal career from the ground up, earning a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Aleppo in 1990, followed by a diploma in public law, a master’s degree in administrative law from the Islamic University in Lebanon in 2009, and a PhD in constitutional law from Beirut Arab University, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

His professional career spans the judiciary, academia, and public administration. He served as a judge with the rank of consultant at the Syrian Ministry of Justice for ten years and worked as director of legal affairs at the Tigris and Khabur Basin Directorate between 1993 and 1998.

On the academic front, al-Awak has served as an assistant professor at Mardin Artuklu University since 2016 and as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at al-Furat University.