Syria’s de facto leader says holding elections could take up to four years

It is the archetypal clip Ahmed al-Sharaa has commented connected an electoral timeline since ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad this month.

Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, says holding elections successful the war-ravaged state could instrumentality arsenic agelong arsenic 4 years.

It is the archetypal clip the caller Syrian person has commented connected a imaginable electoral timetable since absorption fighters, led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad 3 weeks ago.

Drafting a caller constitution could instrumentality up to 3 years, al-Sharaa told Saudi Arabia’s state-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya connected Sunday.

He said elections would apt beryllium held aft 4 years due to the fact that a caller census is to beryllium conducted to specify the numbers of eligible voters successful the country. “Any meaningful elections volition necessitate conducting a broad colonisation census,” helium said.

Al-Sharaa said Syrians would apt witnesser significant changes successful their state successful astir a year. He said HTS – the astir ascendant subject and governmental powerfulness successful Syria – would beryllium dissolved astatine a nationalist dialog conference.

The comments from al-Sharaa came arsenic the caller authorities successful Damascus seeks to reassure its neighbours of bid and stableness successful the multiethnic country.

“Syria volition not beryllium a root of disturbance to anyone,” helium told Al Arabiya.

Al-Sharaa said Syria shared strategical interests with Russia, a adjacent state and subject protagonist of al-Assad during the 13-year Syrian war, reiterating conciliatory signals his authorities has made previously. This month, helium said Syria’s relations with Russia should service communal interests.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the presumption of Russia’s subject bases successful Syria would beryllium the taxable of negotiations with the caller enactment successful Damascus.

“It is simply a question not lone of maintaining our bases oregon strongholds but besides of the conditions of their operation, attraction and proviso and enactment with the section side,” helium said successful an interrogation with the Russian quality bureau RIA released connected Sunday.

Al-Sharaa besides said helium hoped the medication of United States President-elect Donald Trump would assistance sanctions imposed connected Syria.

Senior US diplomats who visited Damascus this period said al-Sharaa came crossed arsenic pragmatic and Washington had decided to region a $10m bounty connected the HTS leader’s head.

Source

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Al Arabiya

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies