1937 Syrian parliamentary election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2026}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2026}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name =
| country = Syria
| flag_year = 1932
| type = parliamentary
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1936 Syrian parliamentary election
| previous_year = 1936
| outgoing_members =
| election_date = {{Start and end dates|1937|09|25|1937|12|11|df=y}}
| elected_members = List of members of the Chamber of Deputies (Syria), 1936–1939#Elected in the 1937 parliamentary election
| next_election = 1943 Syrian parliamentary election
| next_year = 1943
| votes_for_election=
| needed_votes =
| seats_for_election= All 21 seats in [[Latakia Governorate|Latakia]] and [[Sweida Governorate|Jabal al-Druze]] governorates
| majority_seats =
}}
Special parliamentary elections to the Syrian [[People’s Assembly of Syria|Chamber of Deputies]] were held in 1937 to fill seats for the new electoral districts in [[Latakia Governorate|Latakia]] (including [[Tartus Governorate|Tartus]] at the time) and [[Sweida Governorate|Jabal al-Druze (Suwayda)]] governorates.

==Background==

In early September 1920, following the establishment of the [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French Mandate in Syria]], the French divided the territories of Syria into smaller statelets.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Longrigg |first1=Stephen Hemsley |title=Syria and Lebanon under French mandate |date=1972 |publisher=Octagon Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0374950880}}</ref> The [[Alawite State]] and [[Jabal Druze State]] were among the newly-created states. In 1936 (becoming effective in 1937), the two statelets were incorporated into the [[First Syrian Republic|Syrian Republic]] as the governorates of Latakia and Jabal al-Druze.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shambrook |first1=Peter |title=French imperialism in Syria, 1927 – 1936 |date=1998 |publisher=Ithaca Press |location=Reading |isbn=9780863722431 |edition=1.}}</ref> The Syrian parliamentary elections were already held in 1936, and thus there was a need to held special parliamentary elections to elect the deputies of the two newly-incorporated governorates.

==Electoral system==
{{main|Electoral system of Syria#1928}}
Elections were conducted under the Syrian electoral system in force at the time, with deputies elected from territorial electoral districts. Suffrage was limited and indirect in practice, with voting heavily influenced by local notables, clan leaders, and French authorities. Electoral competition was generally weak, and in some cases seats were uncontested.

==Latakia Governorate==
Elections in Latakia Governorate were held in 25 September<ref>{{Cite web|title=⁨الانتخابات في جبل العرب واللاذقية ⁩ {{!}} ⁨الجامعة الاسلامية⁩ {{!}} 7 أيلول 1937 {{!}} مجموعة الصحافة {{!}} المكتبة الوطنيّة الإسرائيليّة|url=https://www.nli.org.il/ar/newspapers/jamiaislamia/1937/09/07/01/article/19|access-date=2026-02-08|website=www.nli.org.il|language=ar}}</ref> and October 1937. The governorate was assigned 16 seats. The elected deputies were as follows:
{| class=”wikitable”
|+
! Electoral district
! Name
! Religious affiliation
!colspan=”2″ | Party
|-
| rowspan=”3″ | [[Latakia (Chamber of Deputies electoral district)|Latakia]]
| [[Abd al-Qadir Shreiteh]]
| Sunni
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Ali Shihab]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Fayez Elias]]
| Not represented minorities
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| rowspan=”2″ | [[Al-Haffah (Chamber of Deputies electoral district)|Sahyun]]
| [[Salman al-Murshid]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Umar al-Bitar|Omar al-Bitar]]
| Sunni
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| rowspan=”4″ | [[Masyaf (Chamber of Deputies electoral district)|Masyaf]]
| [[Muhammad Junayd]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Badawi al-Jabal|Muhammad Suleiman al-Ahmad]]
| Alawite
| {{party color cell|National Bloc (Syria)}}
| [[National Bloc (Syria)|National Bloc]]
|-
| [[Muhammad Hassan Asber]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Janem Khaddour]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| rowspan=”2″ | [[Tartus (Chamber of Deputies electoral district)|Tartus]]
| [[Mahmoud Abd al-Razzaq]]
| Sunni
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Muhammad al-Ismail]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| rowspan=”3″ | [[Safita (Chamber of Deputies electoral district)|Safita]]
| [[Munir al-Abbas]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Amin al-Raslan]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Jabra al-Hilu]]
| Greek Orthodox
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| rowspan=”2″ | [[Talkalakh (Chamber of Deputies electoral district)|Talkalakh]]
| [[Shawkat al-Abbas]]
| Alawite
| colspan=”2″ |
|-
| [[Elias Gerges]]
| Greek Orthodox
| colspan=”2″ |
|}

==Jabal al-Druze Governorate==

Elections in Jabal al-Druze Governorate were held in 29 November and 11 December 1937.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-21 |title=مرسوم اجراء الانتخابات النيابية في محافظة السويداء عام 1937 |url=https://syrmh.com/2025/06/21/%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%85-%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%aa%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d9%85%d8%ad/ |access-date=2026-02-02 |website=التاريخ السوري المعاصر |language=ar}}</ref> The governorate was assigned 5 seats.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-27 |title=مرسوم تحديد المقاعد النيابية لمحافظة جبل السويداء عام 1937 |url=https://syrmh.com/2020/08/27/%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%85-%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d9%84%d9%85%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%b8%d8%a9/ |access-date=2026-02-02 |website=التاريخ السوري المعاصر |language=ar}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[1936 Syrian parliamentary election]]
* [[Alawite State]]
* [[Jabal Druze State]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Syrian elections}}
{{People’s Assembly (Syria)}}

[[Category:Elections in Syria]]
[[Category:1937 elections in Asia]]
[[Category:1937 in Mandatory Syria]]
[[Category:Parliamentary elections in Syria]]