Syrian elections could take up to 4 years, says Führer

Veröffentlicht:

Von:

Syrien könnte bis zu vier Jahre für die Organisation von Wahlen benötigen, sagt der de facto Führer Ahmad al-Sharaa. Seine Regierung plant auch eine neue Verfassung. Die geopolitischen Auswirkungen sind erheblich.
Syria could need up to four years to organize elections, says de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa. His government is also planning a new constitution. The geopolitical effects are significant. (Symbolbild/DNAT)

elections in Syria could not take place for up to four years, said the country's de-facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa. These are his first statements about a possible election period after his rebel group overthrew the Assad regime at the beginning of this month.

unclear handover of power

According to the comments from Al-Sharaa, it remains unclear how the transitional government will hand over the power after it had previously declared to stay in office until March 2025. "We have to prepare the infrastructure before we are going to the elections," said Al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, according to the Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya.

human rights constitution in planning

al-Sharaa, which leads the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who plunged the long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad at the beginning of December, said in an interview that his transitional government also plans to write a new constitution whose elaboration could take up to three years. "We are now in the country's new foundation and not only in the administration of the country ... There are many destruction in the country due to a regime that has been in power for more than 50 years," said al-Sharaa.

the need for a new constitution

"The chance that we were given today does not show up every four or five years ... The constitution must regulate society so that the previous experience does not repeat itself and Syria does not go back in the same direction in which it has been in the past 60 years," he added. Al-Sharaa also emphasized that HTS will ultimately be dissolved, as the broadcaster Al Arabiya reported. This is announced at the upcoming national dialogue conference, a meeting that is intended to support the transition phase. A date for the conference has not yet been determined.

relationships with Russia

to Russia, a former ally of Syria, said Al-Sharaa, that the new leadership did not want Russia to "leave the country in a way that does not fit its relationships with Syria". According to Quellen has been moving a large amount of military equipment and troops since the fall of Assad.

international diplomacy and legitimacy

A delegation from Ukraine led by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha landed in Damascus on Monday to meet Al-Sharaa, the Syrian state media reported. "The Syrian and Ukrainian peoples have shared similar experiences and fights," said interim foreign minister of Syria, Asaad Shaibani, at a press conference with Sybiha.

The visit is the youngest in a number of regional and international diplomatic delegations that have traveled to Syria to meet the De-Facto guide, who until recently had a bounty of $ 10 million on his head, exposed to the USA.

end of the bounty and approach to the West

al-Sharaa was informed of a high-ranking US delegation under the direction of Barbara Leaf, the deputy foreign minister for matters of the Middle East, on December 20 that the United States will overturn the bounty. Leaf, one of three US officials who met in Damascus with al-Sharaa, described the "political decision" as a step in accordance with the need to work on "important topics" such as the fight against terrorism.

"Al-Sharaa has committed to this," said Leaf, "and based on our conversation, I informed him that we would not continue to pursue the reward for justice that has existed for several years." European delegations, including representatives from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, also met with Al-Sharaa last month, while Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain and Turkey sent diplomats for discussions with the new leader.

Search for international recognition

The former jihadist strives for international legitimacy and distances himself from his al-Qaeda past. His appearance has gradually changed from jihadist camouflage uniforms to suits to the state, while he is involved in international diplomacy. Al-Sharaa has also started to approach Saudi Arabia and emphasizes that the kingdom should play a major role in the future of Syria, while Iran should "rethink" its strategy regarding its interventions in the region.

"We flip the old side of the boycotte under which [Syria] lived under the old regime," said Shaibani.