Syria al-Sharaa signs a temporary constitution | Syria's War News

Syria's temporary President Ahmed al-Sharaa has signed a temporary constitution, which will be in force for a five-year transitional period, three months after his forces led an offensive of lightning that has taken down the Bashar al-Assad government.

Al Sharaa He said he hoped the constitutional declaration will mark the beginning of a “new story about Syria, where we replace the oppression with justice” as he signed the document on Thursday.

The temporary constitution retains some aspects of its predecessor, including the stipulation that the Head of State should be a Muslim and the establishment of Islamic law as a major source of case law, said Abdulhamid Al-Awak, a member of the Project Committee.

Considering Damascus, Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar said the issue of introducing rules for the religious belonging of the leaders was a “controversial question”.

“There were many questions about whether this would be one of the articles or not, but now it is clear that the head of state should be a Muslim,” he said.

The document also includes provisions that adhere to the freedom of expression and the press and the “social, political and economic rights of women,” said Al-Avak, adding that it would serve as a “balance between social security and freedom” during the shaky political situation in Syria.

Much of his focus will be on transitional justice, striving to ensure that crimes committed under the previous Al-Assad government have been persecuted.

According to the temporary constitution, the executive power will also be limited to the president, said Al-Avak, stating the need for “quick action to deal with any difficulty.”

The National Assembly, the third of which will be appointed by the President, will be charged with all legislation “until the elections are held,” Serdar said. “This may take, according to the president, up to four to five years.”

“This meeting of people will have authority … to fire the president himself. So theoretically this is possible, but it will be extremely difficult, because (many) members … will be appointed directly by the president himself. “

A new committee will be set up to draw up a permanent constitution, but it is unclear whether it will be more generalized by political, religious and ethnic groups in Syria.

Al Sharaa on Monday reached a landmark pact With US -backed authorities led by Kurdish Kurd in northeastern Syria, including the cessation of fire and merging their armed forces with the central government's security agencies.

The agreement came after government forces and allied groups crushed a rebellion Started last week by artillerymen loyal to Al-Assad.

The rights groups say that hundreds of civilian-mostly from the Alavit minority sect to which Al-Assad belongs were killed in retaliatory attacks by factions in the counterattack.

The temporary rulers of Syria are still trying to exercise their authority in much of the country, as the Al Sharaa Group, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, or HTS, leads the attack that Al-Assad lowered in December.

Critics say the National Dialogue Conference of Al Sharaa last month, summoning to the temporary constitution and provisional parliamentary elections, has not been included in the various ethnic and sectarian groups in Syria or civil society.

Israel hits Damascus

The signing of the constitutional declaration came when the Israeli Air Force held an air strike in Damascus on Thursday.

“We heard two strong explosions almost at the same time the constitutional declaration was signed,” said Al Jazeera's Serdar, adding that the announcements that one man had been killed were still unconfirmed.

Israeli military In a statement, he focused on a “terrorist commander” in Damascus belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which fights with Hamas in Gaza against Israel.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Mohammed al-Hai Musa denied the target building to be a command center, writing to Telegram that it was an empty house.

Two Syrian security sources told the News Agency Reuters that the goal was a Palestinian personality.

“This is a show of force definitely and the Israelis just want to make sure that the new leadership in the country is aware that Israel is watching them, watching them,” Serdar said.

“This is Israel's psychological game,” he said. “Israel is definitely now through doing the work of the new administration extremely difficult as the country is trying to preserve the state apparatus … and tries to recover from the Civil War.”