Syria: Political roadmap approves new president amid sweeping reforms

One day after the announcement of Syria's new interim president, the former leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia, Ahmed al-Sharaa, held his first presidential address to the nation.

"We will announce in the coming days a committee charged with preparing the National Dialogue Conference, a direct platform for discussions, to listen to different points of view on our future political program," al-Sharaa promised in a prerecorded television speech on Thursday.

The results of the National Dialogue Conference will then serve as platform for the country's new "Constitutional Declaration," al-Sharaa explained.

This more detailed roadmap for Syria's future followed a day after al-Sharaa's first speech at the "Conference for Announcing the Victory of the Syrian Revolution."

After he was officially announced as Syrian transitional president, al-Sharaa had laid out that "Syria's first priority is to fill the governmental vacuum in a legitimate and legal way."

Al-Sharaa had also proclaimed the end of Syria's previous parliament and constitution, which dated back to 2012 and was put in place under former dictator Bashar Assad.

A unified army instead of militias

Syria's new president had further announced the dissolution of the Syrian army as well as armed factions that were involved in ousting Assad, including his own HTS militia.

In the future, all of Syria's armed forces — except the US-backed Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the country's northeast — will be organized under one roof as a unified national army.

In the view of Manhal Baresh, a London-based Syrian researcher, none of these decisions should have been made at this point.

"The interim president has neither the right nor the mandate to form a legislative council," he told DW. These steps could only be put forward by an elected administration, he added.

Baresh sees the acceptance of Syria's interim administration and its decisions as an act of goodwill by national and international actors "to give legitimacy at this stage a chance." 

Fourteen years of war have left Syria in dire need of international support after years of economic isolation and corruptionImage: Bilal Alhammoud/Middle East Images/picture alliance

Minorities seem to play a role

Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, an independent organization working to prevent wars, remains cautious.

"The devil lies in the details," he told DW.

"For example a national assembly [the National Dialogue Conference] is proposed, and this is very important, but key questions remain," Hawach said. "Who will be part of it? How will members be chosen? Will there be elections?" 

However, when it comes to upholding women's and minority rights, Hawach is somewhat hopeful after al-Shaara's promise to "work on an inclusive transitional government that reflects Syria's diversity."

"Syria's interim leadership understands the complexity and diversity of Syria's society, and they understand that they cannot impose their own views on the Syrian society as a whole," Hawach said. "Only to which extent, is the question."

On Thurday, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani flew to Damascus to meet Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.Image: Qatar news agency/AP/picture alliance

Some sanctions against Syria lifted

Meanwhile, the proclamation of Syria's new interim authority has accelerated international efforts to stabilize Syria financially.

This week, European foreign ministers lifted some of the sweeping sanctions the EU and the US had imposed on Syria in 2011.

Until now, Syria had been widely cut off from the global economy.

The US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League — a group of 22 countries — signaled their support for Syria's new administration.

In December, the US had already dropped a $10 million (€9.6 million) reward for al-Sharaa, who was then still using his combat name Abu Mohammed al-Golani. 

However, as of now, the United Nations and the US stick to the designation of HTS as foreign terrorist organization, as the militia was previously affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaida, other US-designated terror outfits.

Economic overhaul of Syria planned

Domestic efforts to improve the country's dire economic situation are also underway.

During the past five decades under the rule of Bashar Assad and his father Hafez, Syria's state-led economy had been based on cronyism and was known for being corrupt.

This week, Syria's new interim Finance Minister Mohammad Abazeed told the news agency Reuters that "we expected corruption, but not to this extent."

Only 900,000 of 1.3 million people on the government payroll actually come to work, Abazeed said.

The next steps will include letting go a third of all public sector workers.

Additionally, more than 100 non-profitable state-run industrial companies are to be privatized, he announced.

"We also aim to simplify the tax system with an amnesty on penalties, to remove obstacles and encourage investors to return to Syria," Abazeed told the news agency.

Observers see more goodwill than legal ground for other nations accepting Ahmed al-Sharaa's political announcements, since his administration is not officially elected. Image: Bekir Kasim/Anadolu/picture alliance

Unrest remains

Despite these new objectives and the expected economic upswing, Syria's new interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is aware that rebuilding Syria will not be an easy task.

"The mission of the victorious is heavy, and their responsibility is immense," al-Sharaa had said during his first speech on Wednesday.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the humanitarian situation in the country is catastrophic. 

In 2024, 16.7 million people needed humanitarian assistance, the largest number since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, the international body recently stated.

This week, another 25,000 people were newly uprooted in Syria's northeast where clashes between the US-backed Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, SNA, continue.

However, as the SNA was officially dissolved as part of al-Sharaa's dissolution of all armed forces, it remains to be seen if both parties enter talks.

For Geir Pederson, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Syria's new administration does not change the UN mission's trajectory.

"The UN Secretariat does not engage in acts of recognition of governments, this is a matter for the intergovernmental bodies to decide," Pederson's spokesperson Jenifer Marie Vaughan told DW.

"For years, the UN has called for a credible, inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition that addresses the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people," Vaughan told DW, adding that "this includes the formation of a transitional government, the drafting of a new constitution, and the holding of free and fair elections."

DW's Mohamed Farhan contributed to this article.