Damascus (TDI): Syria’s Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule for five years during a transitional phase.
Syria’s interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of the country since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, led a sweeping insurgency that toppled Bashar Assad’s government in December.
Abdulhamid Al-Awak, one of the 7 members of the committee Al-Sharaa tasked to draft the temporary constitution, told a media conference Thursday that it will maintain some previsions from the previous one, including the stipulation that the head of state has to be a Muslim, and Islamic law is the main source of jurisprudence.
However, he added that the temporary constitution includes provisions that enshrine freedom of expression and media.
The constitution will “balance between social security and freedom” during the country’s shaky political situation, he said.
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A new committee to draft a permanent constitution will be established, but it is unclear if it will be more inclusive of Syria’s political, religious, and ethnic groups.
Al-Sharaa on Monday reached a landmark agreement with the US-backed Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria, including a ceasefire and a merging of their armed forces with the central government’s security agencies.
The agreement came after government troops and allied groups crushed an insurgency erupted last week by gunmen loyal to Assad.
A key objective of the interim constitution was to give a timeline for Syria’s political transition out of its interim period.
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In December, Al-Sharaa said it could take up to 3 years to rewrite Syria’s constitution and up to 5 years to organize and hold elections.
Al-Sharaa appointed a committee to draft the new constitution after a national dialogue conference in February, which called for announcing a temporary constitution and holding interim parliamentary polls.
