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Christian MP becomes Speaker of Parliament in Syria

Hamoudeh Sabbagh, from al-Hasakeh in northern Syria, wins vote with absolute majority

By Henrik Ertner Rasmussen

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Under both Hafez al-Assad and his son, the current president, Bashar al-Assad, Syria has maintained that the country should be a secular state with room for all traditional religions, but it is still a rarity in the Arab world that a Christian is given such a prominent position as being elected president of a national parliament, in this case the Syrian parliament, madjlis al-shaab, a term that is actually best translated as "parliament of the people".

The new Speaker of Parliament, Hamoudeh Jusuf Sabbagh, is from the northern city of al-Hasakeh in the Mesopotamian part of Syria, which many Christian groups traditionally consider their homeland. The Sabbaghs still use Aramaic as the language of worship, the same language that Jesus used when he cried out on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Although the situation in Syria is chaotic, God has not abandoned the country, although many Christians, around 1½ million, have fled Syria, mainly to Lebanon. Many are returning as the situation stabilizes, but the majority are still waiting for the Islamist militias to be defeated or surrender. The Islamic State is not yet completely defeated and there are other militias with similar ideology that are still actively fighting the regime in Damascus and spreading death and destruction, both among Christians and Muslims.

Born in 1959, Sabbagh is a lawyer. According to the official Syrian News Agency, he has held numerous positions of trust and has served on many different parliamentary committees with both national and international assignments, so he is no stranger to the country and apparently enjoys the trust of a large majority of parliament members. He won the election among four candidates with 193 votes out of a possible 250. The votes for the other candidates were 10, 4 and 3 respectively. Due to the absolute majority, the second round of the election was canceled.

The last time a Christian was Speaker of Parliament was in the 1930s and 40s, when Faris Khoury held the post for several terms, as well as serving two terms as Prime Minister.

However, the trees do not grow into the sky for Christians, despite the confidence shown in them, such as the election of Sabbagh as Speaker of Parliament. In many areas, they will have to fight for their position - if they dare to return. Among many in the Sunni majority population, they will find anything but goodwill. The hope is that the Christians who remained in the country during the war and who entered the relief work as partners of the Danish European Mission will have won so much recognition among the other population groups for their selfless efforts for those in need, regardless of their background, that it will lead to a real desire for reconciliation.

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