After Years Of Authoritarian Rule, Syria’s President Has Signed A New Constitution
The constitution will serve as the foundation for the country’s five-year transitional period and guarantees freedom of expression, the press and religion.
Syria’s government has adopted a new temporary constitution, nearly three months after rebels overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad after 13 years of brutal civil war under authoritarian rule.
The constitution, which was signed on Thursday, March 13, by president Ahmed al-Sharaa who led the rebels in toppling former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, will serve as the foundation for the country’s five-year transitional period, after which a permanent constitution will be adopted and elections for a president and parliament will be held.
The temporary constitution retains aspects of the previous constitution, establishing Islamic law as the main source of legislation, with Arabic as the country’s first language and requires the Syrian president to be a Muslim.
But in a stark shift from the previous constitution adopted under Assad’s regime, it guarantees freedom of expression, the press and religion.
The constitution also guarantees full “social, economic and political rights” for women and aims to separate powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, unlike the concentration of power during Assad’s regime.
The president will have executive power and is the only one who can declare a state of emergency.
A member of the committee who drafted the constitution said this had been done due to the need for “rapid action to confront any difficulties”, according to the Guardian.
The president will also directly appoint one-third of the interim legislature, known as the People’s Assembly, with the other two-thirds being appointed by a committee selected by the president.
Much of the document’s focus is on transitional justice, aiming to ensure that crimes committed under the previous Assad regime are prosecuted, according to the BBC.
The constitution bans glorifying the Assad regime and its symbols, as well as“denying, praising, justifying or downplaying its crimes”.
A new committee will also be formed to draft the permanent constitution.
"We hope it will be a new history for Syria, where we replace oppression with justice," Sharaa said.
However, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political arm of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controlled much of northeastern Syria, has criticized the constitution, saying it "contradicts the reality of Syria and its diversity".
The SDF had signed a deal with Sharaa just days earlier on March 10 to merge the SDF into state institutions and ensure the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion.
There are also concerns about the rights of minorities, despite the constitution promising to protect the rights of all Syrians and shield them from discrimination.
On March 6, the country was rocked by its worst violence since it was liberated, with more than 1,000 people, mainly from the Alawite minority group, killed during clashes between gunmen loyal to the former regime and the government forces.
Sharaa has promised everyone responsible for killing civilians will be punished “with firmness and without leniency”.
During his first speech as president, he had pledged that he would build a transitional government that reflects the diversity of the country and work on building institutions until free and fair elections can be held.
The UN envoy to Syria has called the constitution an important step “towards restoring the rule of law”.
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