On 13th March, Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a provisional constitution that placed the nation under Islamist governance but claimed to uphold the rights of all Syrians, for a period of five years during a transition. After the hardline Sunni organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, spearheaded an intense insurgency that toppled the 24-year-long dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad in December, the country’s current rulers have found it difficult to maintain control over a large portion of Syria.
According to the drafting committee, Islamic jurisprudence is “the main source of legislation” rather than “a main source,” and the text states that Islam is the president’s religion, just as the old constitution did. However, it claims to protect women’s rights, freedom of expression and freedom of the media. It also enshrines judicial independence and separation of powers. “We hope it will be a new history for Syria, where we replace oppression with justice,” Sharaa conveyed.
The “moves towards restoring the rule of law” are welcome, according to the United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen, who also pointed out that “this development potentially fills an important legal vacuum.” However, the constitutional declaration was criticized by the Kurdish-led government in northeastern Syria, which contended it “contradicts the reality of Syria and its diversity.”
A gathering of the armed organizations involved in the campaign against Assad resulted in Ahmad al-Sharaa being proclaimed the country’s leader, in January. The groups decided to abrogate the nation’s previous constitution and promised to draft a new one at the same meeting. They disbanded the parliament, army and security forces of the previous regime and revoked the 2012 constitution of the previous administration.
Sharaa remarked that the constitutional declaration would be “the legal framework regulating the transitional phase” and recently announced the creation of a seven-member team to prepare it. The decision sought to “create a balance between a security society and rights and freedoms,” according to committee member Abdul Hamid al-Awak, a constitutional law specialist who teaches at a Turkish university. He made the statement during a news conference on 13th March.
Assad’s “encroachment” on other parts of government throughout his 24 years in power was cited as evidence of the “absolute separation of powers” that it stipulated. He stated that during the transitional time, the president would have administrative authority but only one “exceptional power,” the right to proclaim a state of emergency. Legislation will be the sole duty of a new People’s Assembly.
A committee appointed by the president will appoint two thirds of its members, while the president himself will appoint one third. Additionally, a panel will be established to develop a new and permanent constitution. It’s, however, uncertain if Syria’s political, religious and ethnic factions will be given more consideration in it.
Attack on minorities
After militants loyal to the former regime ambushed a security patrol last week, gunmen supporting the Sunni Islamist-led government were charged with committing retaliatory killings against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect in the western coastal province. According to one monitoring group, about 1,500 civilians were killed. Sharaa afterward assured the establishment of a committee to maintain public peace and promised to take those responsible for the crimes to account.
However, his history as the head of al-Qaeda’s former Syrian offshoot and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi loyalist has made many Alawites and members of other religious and ethnic minority suspicious of his intentions. Sharaa also agreed to a truce and the integration of their military forces with the security services of the central government with the Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria, who are supported by the United States, after the violent event.
According to rights organizations, forces in the counteroffensive massacred hundreds of civilians in counterattacks, primarily from the Alawite minorities and the dwindling Christian population. They were forced to abandon their homes to save their lives.
President Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, a former terrorist
Notably, Syrian president Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa was previously involved with Islamist extremist groups that seek to impose Islamic Sharia laws. In 2012, he founded the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda-affiliated faction fighting against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. He later opposed ISIS when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi attempted to merge al-Nusra with the Islamic State in 2013, leading to violent clashes between the two groups.
In 2016, he severed ties with al-Qaeda and rebranded al-Nusra as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), shifting its focus to local governance in Syria.
