Ahmed al-Sharaa, commander of the group responsible for the fall of the al-Assad regime, also stated that a new constitution could take 3 years
The new leader of Syria after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad, said this Sunday (Dec 29, 2024) that holding elections in Syria could take up to 4 years. It was the first time he commented on an electoral calendar.
Al-Sharaa also leads Syria’s main rebel group, HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), responsible for from the Syrian government on December 8, 2024.
Al-Sharaa also said in an interview with Saudi state broadcaster Al Arabiya that drafting a new constitution could take up to 3 years. Furthermore, he said it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.
According to the news agency the interview should be broadcast later this Sunday (Dec 29).
Damascus (capital of Syria) is now trying to position itself to neighboring countries as a moderate government, distancing itself from its militant roots. However, the new government leaves doubts whether will move towards democracy and about its relationship with countries, such as Turkey and Russia, which participated in the conflicts that lasted 13 years.
In the interview, al-Sharaa said that Syria shares strategic interests with Russia, which was a close ally of the rebels during the civil war and even has military bases in the country.
The country has already promised to protect minority groups that fear the imposition of an Islamic government. It must now avoid conflicts with the various groups that also fought for the overthrow of former president Bashar.
The faction has a jihadist ideology, that is, it advocates a “holy war” to establish Sharia, Islamic law. The Assad regime, on the other hand, is secular, meaning it separates government from religion.
Al-Sharaa, who used to use the codename Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, even said that HTS would be dissolved during a conference. The group was previously affiliated with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
UNDERSTAND THE CONFLICT
Former President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, shortly before the Syrian capital was taken by rebel groups who wanted the overthrow of the Assad regime, whose family had been in power for 50 years.
The former president of Syria is in Moscow (Russia) and of Vladimir Putin’s government, according to Russian state news Tass.
Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011. At the time, the al-Assad government suppressed aspirations for democracy. The Islamic State and other rebel groups formed to fight the regime.
Russia became an ally of the al-Assad government against the rebels and the United States acted to repress the fighters. More than 300,000 civilians were killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN (United Nations).
