The insurgent coalition that seized management of Syria final month appointed its chief, Ahmed al-Shara, as president of the nation to preside over a transitional interval, Syrian state media reported on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the coalition, Col. Hassan Abdel Ghani, additionally declared that the Structure had been nullified and the legislature and armed forces fashioned below the nation’s deposed dictator, Bashar al-Assad, have been dissolved, in line with Syria’s state information company, SANA.
The declarations amounted to the nation’s first official steps towards establishing a brand new authorities after the insurgent coalition, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or H.T.S., swept into the capital, Damascus, final month in a lightning offensive that toppled Mr. al-Assad. Mr. al-Shara, who led that coalition, has since been serving because the nation’s de facto chief.
Because the president of the transitional authorities, Mr. al-Shara might be on the helm of a once unimaginable period of transition in Syria, which had been dominated by the iron fist of the Assad household for greater than 50 years.
After almost 14 years of civil battle that left Syria severely fractured, Mr. al-Shara is attempting to unite many disparate insurgent factions below a single authorities. But it surely was not instantly clear whether or not there was a broad consensus amongst these teams about his appointment as president for a transitional interval.
The declarations on Wednesday have been printed throughout a gathering in Damascus between H.T.S. officers and leaders of a few of the different insurgent teams that opposed Mr. al-Assad.
Since H.T.S. seized Damascus in early December, Mr. al-Shara has laid out lofty targets for the nation, together with rebuilding the state, ridding its establishments of corruption and cronyism and releasing the nation free from the fear that outlined Mr. al-Assad’s authorities — significantly in the course of the nation’s lengthy civil battle.
“What Syria wants right this moment is larger than ever earlier than,” he mentioned in remarks printed by SANA on Wednesday. “Simply as we have been decided to liberate it prior to now, our obligation now could be to decide to rebuilding and advancing it.”
However many Syrians have questioned whether or not Mr. al-Shara will be capable of ship on its sweeping guarantees and reconcile his insurgent group’s militant Islamist roots with a largely secular state.
His armed Islamist group advanced years in the past from an affiliate of Al Qaeda and Mr. al-Shara has had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head for years. American officers introduced in a go to to Damascus final month that that they had deliberate to scrap that designation.
Mr. al-Shara is now anticipated to ascertain a brief legislative council that may govern the nation till a brand new structure is adopted, in line with SANA.
Reham Mourshed contributed reporting.
