Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, the first time he has commented on a possible timetable for elections since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.
Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, Sharaa said in excerpts from the interview with the Saudi state-owned broadcaster. He also said it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.
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Sharaa leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that ousted Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, ending decades of Assad family rule and a 13-year civil war. He said HTS will be dissolved in a national dialogue conference.
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On foreign ties, Sharaa said Syria has strategic interests with Russia. Russia has military bases in Syria, was a close Assad ally during the long civil war and has granted Assad asylum.
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Sharaa said earlier this month that Syria’s relations with Russia should serve common interests.
Sharaa also said he hopes the administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will lift sanctions imposed on Syria. Senior U.S. diplomats who visited Damascus this month said Sharaa came across as pragmatic and that Washington has decided to remove a $10 million bounty on the HTS leader’s head.
