Syria’s de facto leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, also known as Ahmed al-Sharaa, said in an interview published on Sunday that it may take up to four years to hold elections and three years to draft a new constitution.
“The process of writing the constitution may take about three years, and we look forward to a constitution that lasts for the longest possible period, and this is a difficult and lengthy task,” Julani, the former leader of al-Qaeda in Syria, told Al-Arabiya. “Organizing elections may take four years; any valid elections will require a comprehensive population census.”
Julani and his group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, took over Syria after former President Bashar al-Assad fled on December 8. Julani has appointed HTS officials to senior positions in the new “transitional government,” including Anas Hassan Khattab, another former al-Qaeda commander who was named Syria’s intelligence chief.
In the interview with Al-Arabiya, al-Sharaa addressed the criticism of forming a government made up of HTS members and rejected the idea of sharing power with other factions. “The current appointments were essential for the period and not intended to exclude anyone,” he said.
Julani said HTS was in talks with the US-backed Kurdish-led SDF with the ultimate goal of absorbing the force into the Syrian military. “Negotiations are ongoing with the SDF to resolve the crisis in northeastern Syria,” he said.
The US has celebrated the HTS takeover of Syria and has been friendly to Julani despite his al-Qaeda history. Earlier this month, Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, said she had a “good and productive” meeting with Julani and announced the US was removing a $10 million bounty on his head.
Julani told Al-Arabiya that HTS, which is designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization, would be dissolved soon. He first formed the group by merging al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, once known as the al-Nusra Front, with other Islamist factions in 2017.
