On Thursday, the newly appointed Syria, Ahmed al-Shar, promised to create an inclusive transition government that reflects the diversity of Syria and will lead the country until he can maintain “free and honest elections”.
Speech was Mr. Al-Shara’s first public address since the longtime dictator in the country last month, Bashar Al-Assad, and came in the midst of discomfort among some Syrians because of the plans for his coalition to lead the country.
“The construction of the nation is our collective responsibility,” Mr. Al-Shara said in a five-minute video addressed by Syrian state media. “This is an invitation to all Syrians to participate in the construction of a new homeland, one that will manage justice and consultation.”
The speech followed the day after his rebel coalition declared Mr. Al-Shara President Syria to the transitional period and announced a number of other critically important decisions, including the cancellation of the Constitution and the dissolution of the legislative authorities and the army formed under the worn dictatorship.
Declarations set up control of the formation of a new state in the hands of Mr. Al-Shara in the near future. Mr. Shara did not say how long this transition would last, and it was not immediately clear if his appointment had a wide support in a variety of armed fractures outside his coalition.
“It is very centralized, authoritarian, approach from above down,” said Dr. Salam, Syrian researcher and former lecturer at the free University of Berlin, describing the appointment of Mr. Al-Shara as president. “Progressive Syrians and others are really concerned about their role and participation in this new state,” she added. “They feel back in all these decisions.”
Many Syrians also questioned whether Mr. al-Shara would be able to reconcile militant Islamist roots His rebel group, which developed from the Al Qaeda branch several years ago, with a mainly secular condition.
In his public address on Thursday, Mr. Shara sought to alleviate some of these concerns, emphasizing that the process of establishing a transitional government would include counseling with people from all over Syrian society.
“We have to remember that this is a transitional phase, a part of a political process that requires the true participation of all Syrians,” he said.
Mr. Al-Shara added that, as a president, he planned a priority to uniting all Syrian territories, building state institutions and reviving the distracted economy of the country. In the coming days, his government will be published by the Committee for Determination of Members of the Legal Council for the transitional period, he said.
In recent weeks, Mr. Al-Shara has come to the increasing criticism for failing to give no speech that has been addressing the Syrian public in almost two months since his coalition took power in early December. During this time, however, the new leadership published a storm of meetings between Mr. Al-Shara and visiting foreign diplomats. On Thursday, the Qatarie Emir, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al-Ana, visited Damascus and met with Mr. Al-Shar on his first visit to the head of the State of Syrian capital since the rebels seized power.
The way the leadership announced the key decisions on Wednesday – during a private meeting with several other rebel groups in the presidential palace – he also attracted criticism. At the meeting, there were some companies that effectively control most of the southwestern Syria and the Kurdish militia that controls the northeast.
The coalition did not publish any information on which faction was present at the meeting or procedure through which they appointed Mr. Al-Shar, leaving uncertainty about whether there was a united front behind these steps.
In weeks after his rebel coalition swallowed Damascus, Mr. Al-Shara and his allies spoke of a great vision for a new Syrian state. Leaders from all over society – including activists, intellectuals and opposition figures – would be invited to help build a guardian government. The inclusive committee would draw up a new constitution. The elections would be held. Free speech would return.
Many welcomed this rhetoric in Syria, the country, which the Assad family ruled an iron fist for over 50 years. But over time, the euphoria started shooting.
“They now receive their legitimacy from the military liberation of the earth,” said Alise Mofrej, a member of the Syrian negotiating commission, the umbrella organization for the Syrian opposition groups. But Mr. Al-Shara must convince the Syrian people that he will not establish a “new tyrant,” she added.
The speech of Mr. Al-Shara, promising inclusivity and broader consultation with the Syrian civil society, seemed an effort to deal with this criticism. Mr. Al-Shara also said that he had performed intense legal advice to ensure his appointment of the President “in accordance with legal standards, giving him legitimacy.”
A spokesman for military operations of the Provisional Government, Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani, announced on Wednesday that all Syrian militia would be dissolved and integrated into the state. But it was not clear how the rebel fraction would have been present and so far they have refused to give up the weapon would respond to that term.
Some militia previously refused to dissolve and integrate their fighters into a new national army until they had greater clarity in the form that the guardian government would take over.
The unification of these militia in one country is one of the most important challenges facing Mr. Al-Shara’s government, experts say, and one made it difficult for her probably lost something from confidence after announced big decisions on Wednesday without their contribution.
“Although it was expected that he would be announced as a transitional president, the way it was done in the way some political actors were excluded-he was shown by some political capital,” said Ibrahim Al-Assil, a Syrian assistant professor of political science at George Washington University, who returned to Damascus after the fall of Assad.
“I don’t think it’s a game exchanger,” he added. “But that was a step that would make people worry about what would come next.”
Reham Murshed contributed to reporting.
