DAMASCUS, Syria – The new Syrian administration appointed Ahmed Al-Sharaa as the country’s head of state during a transitional phase, and suspended the current constitution, it was announced Wednesday.
The spokesperson for the military operations administration, Hasan Abdel Ghani, stated, “We announce the appointment of Commander Ahmed Al-Sharaa as the president of the country during the transitional phase. He will undertake the duties of the president of the Syrian Arab Republic and represent it in international forums.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Al-Sharaa, who also leads the new administration, presided over a meeting at the People’s Palace in Damascus with various military and revolutionary factions. The participants decided that Al-Sharaa would assume the presidency for the transitional period and that the 2012 constitution would be suspended. The Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, the People’s Assembly, the army, and security apparatuses linked to the former regime of President Bashar al-Assad were also ordered to be dissolved.
According to Colonel Hasan Abde Ghani, the spokesperson for the military operations administration, the decisions followed a meeting of military and revolutionary factions. The decisions were announced in a statement titled “Declaration of the Victory of the Syrian Revolution.”
“We congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of their blessed revolution,” Abdel Ghani said, adding that the president was “authorized to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase until a permanent constitution is approved.”
The statement also affirmed that the “People’s Assembly formed during the former regime and its associated committees” would be dissolved, in addition to the “dissolution of the former regime’s army and the restructuring of the army on national foundations.” The statement also included the decision to dissolve “all militias and security apparatuses affiliated with the former regime in all its branches.” However, a new security institution to protect citizens would be established.
The dissolution of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, the parties of the National Progressive Front, and the suspension of the 2012 constitution and its exceptional laws were also announced.
Following the meeting, Al-Sharaa stated that Syria’s priorities included “to fill the power vacuum, maintain peace, build state institutions, and work on the economic structure.”
“Just as we were determined to liberate Syria in the past, it is now our duty to be determined to build and develop it,” Al-Sharaa added.
“By the grace of God, we have broken the shackles, the tormented have been freed, and we have shaken off the dust of humiliation and degradation from the Levant; thus, the great victory. Victory is a duty in itself; the task of the victors is weighty and their responsibility is great,” he said. He further stated that while war is usually associated with destruction, Syria’s victory was achieved with compassion and justice.
Al-Sharaa is also the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. On December 21, he met with military factions of the Syrian revolution in Damascus, where they discussed the formation of a new military institution, with all factions being integrated into a single institution under the Ministry of Defence.
Syrian opposition factions took control of Damascus on December 8, after capturing other cities. This brought an end to 61 years of Ba’ath Party rule and 53 years of the Assad family’s regime.
