Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa named president for transitional period

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has been named president for a transitional phase and the country’s constitution has been suspended, the Syrian state news agency (SANA) reported.

A temporary legislative council for the transitional phase, which will continue its work until a new constitution is approved, was also authorized, according to SANA’s report on Wednesday.

The announcement was made by the spokesperson for Syria’s new, de facto government’s military operations sector, Hassan Abdul Ghani, the state-run SANA news agency said.

Abdel Ghani also announced that the country’s armed groups would be absorbed into state-run institutions.

“All military factions are dissolved… and integrated into state institutions”, state news agency SANA quoted Abdel Ghani as saying, and also announcing “the dissolution of the defunct regime’s army” and security agencies, as well as the Baath party, which ruled Syria for decades.

The announcements came during a meeting of armed rivals in Damascus that had joined the deadly military exercise that had displaced President Bashar al-Assad last month. Al-Sharaa has been Syria’s de facto ruler since leading the offensive.

After Assad’s removal, Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group became the de facto ruling party and set up an interim government largely composed of officials from the local government it previously ran in rebel-held Idlib province.

Al-Sharaa has pledged to embark on a political transition including a national conference, an inclusive government, and eventual elections, which he has said could take up to four years to hold.

Questions remain over how the interim administration can bring together a symbiotic coalition of former rebel groups with their own leaders and ideology. He has also called for the creation of a new, unified national army and security forces.

Transition begins

Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javid, reporting from Damascus, said the announcements on Wednesday provided “more clarity on the way forward” for Syria.

We don’t know how long this presidency will last, but it will be for a transitional period. This will also pave way for the international community to lift sanctions”, he said.

“In the last 48 hours, we’ve heard about an EU roadmap to lift sanctions completely. This will be crucial because it will have an impact on everyone in Syria, including people and society. He continued, “That will determine how Syria’s economy functions and how Syria will advance””.

Radwan Ziadeh, Senior analyst at Arab Centre, a research organisation, said the announcements marked the “transition of power into civilian hands”.

According to him, “Al-Sharaa will appoint members of a legislative body, which will make institutional declarations over the next few days.”