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

It is the first time Ahmed al-Sharaa has commented on an electoral timeline since ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad this month.

Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, says holding elections in the war-ravaged country could take as long as four years.

It is the first time the new Syrian leader has commented on a possible electoral timetable since opposition fighters, led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad three weeks ago.

Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, al-Sharaa told Saudi Arabia’s state-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya on Sunday.

He said elections would likely be held after four years because a new census is to be conducted to specify the numbers of eligible voters in the country. “Any meaningful elections will require conducting a comprehensive population census,” he said.

Al-Sharaa said Syrians would likely witness significant changes in their country in about a year. He said HTS – the most dominant military and political power in Syria – would be dissolved at a national dialogue conference.

The comments from al-Sharaa came as the new government in Damascus seeks to reassure its neighbours of peace and stability in the multiethnic country.

“Syria will not be a source of disturbance to anyone,” he told Al Arabiya.

Al-Sharaa said Syria shared strategic interests with Russia, a close ally and military supporter of al-Assad during the 15-year Syrian war, reiterating conciliatory signals his government has made previously. This month, he said Syria’s relations with Russia should serve common interests.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the status of Russia’s military bases in Syria would be the subject of negotiations with the new leadership in Damascus.

“It is a question not only of maintaining our bases or strongholds but also of the conditions of their operation, maintenance and provision and interaction with the local side,” he said in an interview with the Russian news agency RIA released on Sunday.

Al-Sharaa also said he hoped the administration of United States President-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions imposed on Syria.

Senior US diplomats who visited Damascus this month said al-Sharaa came across as pragmatic and Washington had decided to remove a $10m bounty on the HTS leader’s head.