Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued Tuesday a presidential decree to hold the parliamentary elections on May 7, the Syrian parliament's website reported.

The 250-seat parliament's term expired last March but it has been extended in accordance with the country's new constitution, which has recently been approved by national referendum. The parliament combines 80 independents and 170 parliamentarians from closely associated parties known as the National Progressive Front.

In July of 2011, the Syrian cabinet endorsed the general elections bill as part of the government's reform program to tamp down months of unrest.

The bill aims to regulate the election of parliament and local council members and to ensure the integrity of the electoral process. It also stipulates the formation of the Supreme Commission for Elections to manage the election process.

The Syrian president has recently introduced packages of measures that aim at easing up restraints on politics and economy, lifting the most controversial state of emergency that has been in place in the county for about 50 years, giving unprecedented freedom in different spheres, and granting several general amnesties over the past year.

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