This is the first time Ahmed al-Shara has commented on the election schedule since he ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad this month.
Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said it could take up to four years to hold elections in the war-torn country.
It is the first time the new Syrian leader has commented on the election schedule since the opposition party, led by al-Shara’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad three weeks ago.
Al-Shara told Saudi Arabia’s state broadcaster Al Arabiya on Sunday that it could take up to three years to draft a new constitution.
He said elections would likely be held in four years as a new census is conducted to determine the number of eligible voters in the country. “To have meaningful elections, we need to conduct a comprehensive census,” he said.
Al-Sharaa said Syrians are likely to see significant changes in their country in about a year. He said HTS, the most dominant military and political force in Syria, would be disbanded at the National Dialogue Conference.
Al-Shara’s comments come as the new government in Damascus seeks to ensure peace and stability in the multi-ethnic country to its neighbors.
“Syria will not cause trouble to anyone,” he told Al Arabiya.
Al-Shara said Syria shared strategic interests with Russia, a close ally and military supporter of al-Assad during Syria’s 13-year war, repeating previous signs of reconciliation by his government. This month he said Syria’s relationship with Russia must serve their common interests.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the status of Russian military bases in Syria would be the subject of negotiations with the new leadership in Damascus.
“This is not just a question of maintaining our bases or fortifications, but also the conditions of their operation, maintenance, supply and interaction with the local side,” he said in an interview with Russian news agency RIA published Sunday.
Al-Shara also said he hoped U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions imposed on Syria.
Senior US diplomats who visited Damascus this month said they were under the impression that al-Shara was pragmatic and that Washington was determined to remove the $10 million bounty on the HTS leader’s head.
