New Delhi, July 13 -- DAMASCUS - The assembly chamber in Damascus filled with 210 Syrians on Sunday, the first time any chamber in the country had convened with members who were not chosen by or beholden to the Assad family. For many of those present, it was, as one delegate put it, the opening of a room that had been locked since before they were born. Syria's transitional People's Assembly held its inaugural session 19 months after armed groups overthrew Bashar al-Assad's government, setting a 30-month clock on drafting the constitution Syria has never had from its own choosing.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the rebel coalition that ousted Assad in December 2024, addressed the assembly in a speech that set out both a mandate and a...