ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday signed a 53-article constitutional declaration that centers on Islamic jurisprudence, stipulates that the country’s president must be a Muslim, and sets a five-year transitional period of the country. It also maintains the name of the country as the Syrian “Arab” Republic.
"We hope this marks a new history for Syria, where injustice is replaced with justice, ignorance with knowledge and suffering with mercy," Sharaa stated during the signing ceremony. He expressed hope that this declaration “will be a good omen for the Syrian people,” setting them “on the path to construction and development."
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 regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa was appointed as Syria’s interim President in late January. Around that same period, the country’s constitution was annulled, its parliament was dissolved and its army disbanded. Sharaa then vowed to form an “inclusive transitional government that would reflect Syria's diversity, hold "free and fair elections," and preserve "civil peace" and Syria’s territorial unity.
The constitutional declaration follows a decree issued by Sharaa in late February establishing a seven-member committee of “experts” tasked with drafting the declaration to “regulate the transitional phase” in Syria.
However, the committee was widely criticized, particularly from Kurdish groups in northeast Syria (Rojava), for its exclusion of ethnic and religious communities in Syria.
The committee on Thursday stated that the constitutional declaration specifies “Islamic jurisprudence as the main source of legislation,” and that the “religion of the country’s president is Islam.” However, no official religion for the state was included.
The country will additionally maintain its official naming as the Syrian “Arab” Republic which was determined in the previous 1920 constitution, the committee added.
Power structure and governance
Regarding Syria’s power structure, the committee highlighted the “absolute division between authorities.”
Sharaa will carry out legislative elections “in a manner that aligns with the nature of the transitional phase and the lack of a safe and neutral environment to hold elections across Syria” and will “retain [the authority] to assign one-third of [the legislature] to ensure the participation of all,” including competent individuals, the committee said.
As for the executive power, “it shall be assigned to the president who will be aided by ministers,” the committee noted, adding that keeping the “executive power exclusively in the hand of the president during the transitional period is a suitable decision stemming from [the need] for swift action in addressing challenges and difficulties.” The committee set a five-year transitional period for the country.
The committee further clarified that “no authority will be able to dismiss or isolate another” and that the legislature does not have “the authority to question the president.” Instead, the president can be held accountable by a constitutional court, which he was granted the “right to assign the judges of.”
Rights and freedoms
The constitutional declaration also ensures freedom of expression, press, publishing, and journalism, while stressing the Syrian state’s “commitment to the human rights agreements” and upholding the right to political participation, the committee explained, urging the legislation of a new law to “regulate political participation based on equality and national principles.”
The constitutional declaration additionally emphasized the Syrian state’s “commitment to maintain the unity of the people and territory, management of diversity and preserving the cultural and linguistic rights of all Syrians.”
Importantly, following the Thursday signing ceremony, the committee told reporters that the constitutional declaration was not impacted by the agreement between Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi, or the recent violence that erupted in Syria’s western coastal regions.
Sharaa and Abdi signed a landmark agreement on Monday to “integrate all civil and military institutions in [the predominantly Kurdish] northeast Syria [Rojava] under the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the [Qamishli International] Airport, and oil and gas fields,” read a statement by the Syrian Presidency at the time.
The statement emphasized that “the Kurdish community is indigenous to the Syrian state, which ensures this community’s right to citizenship and all of its constitutional rights.”
Days prior, violence had erupted in the Alawite-majority coastal areas of western Syria, after loyalists of the toppled dictator Assad launched attacks against security forces affiliated with the new Syrian leadership.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, on Monday reported that around 1,500 people - mostly civilians - were killed in the western Syria violence, adding that most of the fatalities were killed by government or government-affiliated forces.
