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

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

The bill aims to regulate the elections of the parliament and local councils 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 introduced packages of measures in the past year to ease up the restraints on politics and economy, including lifting the most controversial state of emergency that has been in place in the county for around 50 years, giving unprecedented freedom in different spheres, and granting general amnesties.