Syrian elections may not be held for 4 years, says de facto leader

Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Shara said it could take four years for the country to hold its first elections since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

In his first comment on a possible timeline of the key stages of the country’s political transition, shara “Any valid election would require a comprehensive population census,” he said.

Drafting a new constitution could also take three years, Shara, who previously used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, said in an interview with Saudi Arabian broadcasters Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadat on Sunday.

The expected transition will worry Western powers who have been calling for Sharia to form an inclusive administration. They are considering lifting sanctions on the Syrian state and lifting terrorist designations on Shara and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist movement that led the blitzkrieg to oust Assad.

Earlier this month, the HTS appointed Mohamed al-Bashir as Syria’s interim prime minister.

Bashir, who heads the civilian administration in Idlib, a northwestern region that has been under HTS control for years, announced at the time that his cabinet, which is largely made up of HTS members who had played roles in the former Idlib administration. Formation of Caretaker Government By March next year.

Shara also addressed HTS’s influential role in the transitional government, telling broadcasters that “the current recruitment pattern was a stage requirement” and that “the quota system will destroy the interim job during this period”.

Hadi al-Bahra, head of the Syrian National Coalition – an umbrella group for the opposition to Assad The Syrian Civil War Called for inclusion of all opposition parties in the interim government.

He laid out a 18 month timeline For a political transition with a six-month period to draft a new constitution.

Sharao confirmed that the HTS and other armed groups would Dissolved into new state authoritiesHowever, it is not certain whether many factions in Syria will accept his initiative.

The dissolution of HTS will be announced at a national dialogue conference of leading opposition figures, ethnic and religious leaders and some Assad government officials who had no military or security role.

The conference, the date of which has yet to be announced, is expected to announce the dissolution of the former parliament and the annulment of the former constitution, as well as the formation of an advisory council, organizers told Al Jazeera.

One of the most notable factions remaining outside Shariah’s sphere of influence is the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control a large part of the country’s northeast.

Shara said on Sunday that the HTS-led administration was discussing the future status of the region with the SDF.