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31-12-2024
DAMASCUS: Holding new elections in Syria could take up to four years, rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said in a broadcast interview.
This is the first time he has given a timeline for possible elections in Syria since his group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led a rebel offensive that ousted former President Bashar al-Assad.
In the interview with Saudi state broadcaster Al Arabiya on Sunday, he said drafting a new constitution could take up to three years.
He said it could also be a year before Syrians begin to see significant change and improvements to public services following the overthrow of the Assad regime.
Sharaa said Syria needed to rebuild its legal system and would have to hold a comprehensive population census to run legitimate elections.
Sharaa previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has led the country’s new authorities after the Assad presidency fell earlier this month.
Since then, questions have been raised over how HTS will govern the multi-ethnic country.
HTS began as a jihadist group espousing violence to achieve its goal of establishing a state governed by Islamic law (Sharia) but has distanced itself from that past in recent years.
Sharaa said the group, which was once aligned with Islamic State and al- Qaeda and is designated as a terrorist organization by the UN and many countries, will be “dissolved” at an upcoming national dialogue conference but gave no further details.
The gathering could be the first test of whether Syria’s new leadership can achieve the promised goal of uniting the country after thirteen years of civil war.
Responding to criticism of his transitional government, he said the appointments made were “essential” and not meant to exclude anyone.
Syria is home to many ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Arab Sunnis, the last of whom make up a majority of the Muslim population.
His group have promised to protect the rights and freedoms of minorities in the country.
Meanwhile, nearly 300 people have been arrested in the past week in a crackdown on Assad loyalists, according to a UK-based war monitor.
Those arrested include informants, pro-regime fighters and former soldiers, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
He told media the arrests had been taking place “with the cooperation of local populations”. Syrian state news agency Sana also reported arrests this week targeting “Assad militia members” where weapons and ammunition were seized.
On the night of 6 December, Mohammed el-Nadaf, a soldier in the Syrian army, was at his position in Homs.
As rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) pushed into the city, days after they had seized control of Aleppo and Hama in a lightning offensive, Mohammed decided he didn’t want to fight.
“We had no orders, no information. I took off my uniform, left my weapons, and started to make my way to my village in Tartous,” he said.
At around the same time, Mohammed Ramadan was at a position on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
“There was no one to give orders to us. Many of our commanders fled before us. So I thought, why should I die and fight for someone who didn’t even give me enough of a salary to be able to feed my family?
“For our daily rations as soldiers we got just one egg and one potato.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
