ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Sunday criticized Syria’s newly-formed interim government as “exclusionary” and “failing” to uphold diversity, stressing that they would not abide by its decisions.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday announced his new 23-minister cabinet, which includes ministers from his former government.
The Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES) on Sunday rejected the new cabinet, claiming that it “resembled its [caretaker] predecessor in failing to take Syria's diversity into consideration and allowing a single faction to maintain control.” It warned that any government that does not represent Syria’s plurality will not be able to properly manage the country and pull it out of its crisis.
The DAANES further noted that they will not adhere to the decisions of the new government in Damascus.
“We will not be concerned with implementing and executing decisions issued by it, as this insistence on repeating past mistakes will harm Syrians and will never launch a comprehensive political process that can provide solutions to the pending issues, problems, and crises Syria is experiencing,” their statement read.
The Kurdish-led administration has previously criticized other actions taken by the interim government in Damascus, accusing it of marginalizing Kurds and other minorities.
In early March, Rojava’s ruling and opposition parties condemned Damascus for excluding the Kurds from the committee tasked with drafting Syria’s constitutional declaration.
Two weeks later, the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) strongly rejected the draft of the interim constitution, approved by Sharaa, as perpetuating policies of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Prior to that, the Kurdish opposition parties in mid-February slammed the exclusion of Kurds from a key committee tasked by Sharaa to prepare for a National Dialogue Conference aimed at discussing Syria’s future.
Importantly, the interim constitution and its drafting committee, as well as the National Dialogue Conference and its committee, drew criticism from other components of Syrian society, including the Druze and the Christians.
Following a swift offensive, a coalition of rebel groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - headed by Sharaa - on December 8 toppled the Assad regime. Sharaa was in late January appointed as Syria’s interim President.
Upon his appointment, Sharaa vowed to uphold the rights of all ethnic and religious groups. However, the international community has repeatedly criticized the new leadership in Damascus for its treatment of Syria’s minority groups.
