New elections could take up to four years, Syrian rebel leader says

New elections in Syria could take up to four years, rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview.

It is the first time he has given a timetable for possible elections in Syria since his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group led a rebel offensive that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad.

In an interview with Saudi state broadcaster Al Arabiya on Sunday, he said the new constitution could take up to three years to draft.

He said it could be a year before Syrians begin to see significant changes and improvements in public services after the ouster of the Assad regime.

Sharaa said Syria needed to restore its legal system and conduct a comprehensive census in order to hold legitimate elections.

ball – formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – led the country’s new authorities after Assad gave up the presidency earlier this month.

Since then, questions have been raised about how the VTS will manage the multi-ethnic country.

HTS began as a jihadist group – advocating violence to achieve its goal of a state governed by Islamic law (Sharia) – but has distanced itself from that past in recent years.

Sharaa said the group, once linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations and many countries, would be “disbanded” at an upcoming national dialogue conference, but gave no further details.

The gathering could be the first test of whether Syria’s new leadership can achieve its promised goal of reunifying the country after thirteen years of civil war.

Responding to criticism of his transitional government, he said the appointments made were “substantial” and not intended to exclude anyone.

Syria is home to many ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shiites, and Sunni Arabs, the latter of whom constitute the majority of the Muslim population.

His group promised to protect the rights and freedoms of minorities in the country.

Meanwhile, nearly 300 people were arrested last week in a crackdown on Assad loyalists, according to a British war monitor.

Among those arrested are informants, regime fighters and former soldiers, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman.

He told the AFP news agency that the arrests took place “with the cooperation of the local population.”

Syrian state news agency Sana also reported arrests this week of “members of the Assad militia,” with weapons and ammunition confiscated.