By Deutsche Welle (World News) | Created at 2025-01-31 02:16:09 | Updated at 2025-01-31 04:36:41
2 hours ago
A day after being named Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged Thursday to hold a "national dialogue conference" and form an inclusive government.
"We will work on an inclusive transitional government that reflects Syria's diversity," he said in his first televised address to the nation since the fall of ousted leader Bashar Assad in December 2024.
This process should lead Syria to "free and fair elections," said al-Sharaa, who also vowed to preserve "civil peace" and the territorial unity of Syria.
Plans for a new constitution
In his speech, al-Sharaa said he would form a small legislative body to fill the parliamentary void until new elections are held. The Syrian parliament was dissolved on Wednesday.
"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," he said.
This would be followed by a "constitutional declaration," he said in an apparent reference to the process of drafting a new Syrian constitution.
Al-Sharaa has previously said that the process of drafting a new constitution and holding elections could take up to four years.
'Real justice' for Syria
Al-Sharaa vowed to "pursue the criminals who shed Syrian blood and committed massacres and crimes," whether they are inside Syria or abroad, and to establish "real transitional justice" after Assad's fall.
He also promised to build strong state institutions based on the principles of competence and justice, as well as a strong economy.
On Wednesday, the Military Operations Department, which is linked to the new ruling administration in Syria, declared the abolition of the 2012 constitution, the dissolution of Assad's parliament, the disbanding of all armed factions and their integration into state institutions.
dh/zc (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
