In a move that could pave way for the international community to lift sanctions, Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa has been named President for a transitional phase.
The announcement was made by the spokesperson for Syria’s new de facto government’s military operations sector, Hassan Abdel Ghani.
Al-Sharaa was also authorised to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase which will carry out its task until a new constitution is adopted.
Ghani was quoted as saying, “All military factions are dissolved … and integrated into state institutions.”
He also announced the “dissolution of the defunct regime’s army” and security agencies, as well as the Baath party, which ruled Syria for decades.
The spokesperson announced a series of other changes, including the dissolution of Syria’s parliament, the formation of an appointed legislative council, and the cancellation of the country’s 2012 constitution.
Syria’s military and security agencies were also dissolved, to be replaced by new security institutions and army.
In addition, all armed factions in Syria are to be disbanded and absorbed into the new national army.
The announcements emerged during a Damascus meeting of armed factions that had joined the lightning offensive that toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month. Al-Sharaa has been Syria’s de facto ruler since leading the offensive.
Sharaa said that the country’s priorities were “filling the power vacuum, preserving civil peace, building state institutions.”
After al-Assad’s removal, al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group became the de facto governing party and set up an interim government largely composed of officials from the local government it previously ran in rebel-held Idlib province.
The transitional government is supposed to hand over power to a new government in March, but it is unclear how the transition will be managed.
In an interview with Al Arabiya last month, Sharaa said that holding elections could take up to four years, and rewriting the country’s constitution could take three.
Al-Sharaa has pledged to embark on a political transition including a national conference, an inclusive government and eventual elections.
Sharaa promised to hold a national dialogue conference to ensure the post-Assad era is inclusive of all facets of Syrian society, but has delayed the event repeatedly.
His meetings have been mostly with individuals, rather than political parties.
He has also called for the creation of a new unified national army and security forces, but questions loom over how the interim administration can bring together a patchwork of former opposition rebel groups, each with their own leaders and ideology.
The dissolution of military factions is sensitive.
The presence and role of these factions have become a pressing question, as the country’s interim government – led almost exclusively by HTS appointees – tries to consolidate power.
In mid-January, the Syrian ministry of defence announced that it would be holding consultations with factions to see how they would form a unified military.
A Sign Of Transition Of Power
It is believed that Ghani’s announcements provided “more clarity on the way forward” for Syria.
Radwan Ziadeh, Senior Analyst at the Arab Center Washington DC, a research organisation, said that the announcements marked the “transition of power into civilian hands.”
“Al-Sharaa will appoint members of a legislative body, which will make institutional declarations over the next few days.
“We’ve seen [similar political transitions] in Africa and Latin America. What’s important today is that the political process has started. We’ve transferred the power from military groups into a political process.”
Radwan Ziadeh
Foreign powers are watching to see if Syria maintains its current trajectory towards stability, wary of seeing a repeat of a Libya scenario, where the country was divided up by warring factions and experienced mass lawlessness after the toppling of the longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
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