DAMASCUS: Syria’s interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule for five years during a transitional phase.
The country’s interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of the country since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning insurgency that overthrew former leader Bashar Assad in December.
Former HTS leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa is now the country’s interim president — a decision that was announced after a meeting of the armed groups that took part in the offensive against Assad. At the same meeting, the groups agreed to repeal the country’s old constitution and said a new one would be drafted.
While many were happy to see an end to the Assad family’s dictatorial rule of over 50 years in the war-torn country, religious and ethnic minorities have been skeptical of the new Islamist leaders and reluctant to allow Damascus under its new authorities to assert control of their areas.
Abdulhamid Al-Awak, one of the seven members of the committee Al-Sharaa tasked to draft the temporary constitution, told a press conference Thursday that it will maintain some previsions from the previous one, including the stipulation that the head of state has to be a Muslim, and Islamic law is the main source of jurisprudence.
However, Al-Awak, a constitutional law expert who teaches at the Mardin Artuklu University in Turkiye, also said the temporary constitution includes provisions that enshrine freedom of expression and the press. The constitution will “balance between social security and freedom” during Syria’s shaky political situation, he said.
A new committee to draft a permanent constitution will be formed, but it is unclear if it will be more inclusive of Syria’s political, religious, and ethnic groups.
Al-Sharaa on Monday reached a landmark pact with the US-backed Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria, including a ceasefire and a merging of their armed forces with the central government’s security agencies.
The deal came after government forces and allied groups crushed an insurgency launched last week by gunmen loyal to Assad. Rights groups say that hundreds of civilians — mostly from the Alawite minority sect to which Assad belongs — were killed in retaliatory attacks by factions in the counter-offensive.
A key goal of the interim constitution was to give a timeline for the country’s political transition out of its interim phase. In December, Al-Sharaa said it could take up to three years to rewrite Syria’s constitution and up to five years to organize and hold elections.
Al-Sharaa appointed a committee to draft the new constitution after Syria held a national dialogue conference last month, which called for announcing a temporary constitution and holding interim parliamentary elections. Critics said the hastily-organized conference was not inclusive of Syria’s different ethnic and sectarian groups or civil society.
The United States and Europe have been hesitant to lift harsh sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule until they are convinced that the new leaders will create an inclusive political system and protect minorities. Al-Sharaa and regional governments have been urging them to reconsider, fearing that the country’s crumbling economy could bring further instability.
Syrian leader signs constitutional declaration, hailing ‘new history’
https://arab.news/zyday
Syrian leader signs constitutional declaration, hailing ‘new history’
- Former HTS leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa is now the country’s interim president
- A new committee to draft a permanent constitution will be formed, but it is unclear if it will be more inclusive of Syria’s political, religious, and ethnic groups
Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village threatened after record rains
- The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status
SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia: Perched on a hill overlooking Carthage, Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said now faces the threat of landslides, after record rainfall tore through parts of its slopes.
Last week, Tunisia saw its heaviest downpour in more than 70 years. The storm killed at least five people, with others still missing.
Narrow streets of this village north of Tunis — famed for its pink bougainvillea and studded wooden doors — were cut off by fallen trees, rocks and thick clay. Even more worryingly for residents, parts of the hillside have broken loose.
“The situation is delicate” and “requires urgent intervention,” Mounir Riabi, the regional director of civil defense in Tunis, recently told AFP.
“Some homes are threatened by imminent danger,” he said.
Authorities have banned heavy vehicles from driving into the village and ordered some businesses and institutions to close, such as the Ennejma Ezzahra museum.
- Scared -
Fifty-year-old Maya, who did not give her full name, said she was forced to leave her century-old family villa after the storm.
“Everything happened very fast,” she recalled. “I was with my mother and, suddenly, extremely violent torrents poured down.”
“I saw a mass of mud rushing toward the house, then the electricity cut off. I was really scared.”
Her Moorish-style villa sustained significant damage.
One worker on site, Said Ben Farhat, said waterlogged earth sliding from the hillside destroyed part of a kitchen wall.
“Another rainstorm and it will be a catastrophe,” he said.
Shop owners said the ban on heavy vehicles was another blow to their businesses, as they usually rely on tourist buses to bring in traffic.
When President Kais Saied visited the village on Wednesday, vendors were heard shouting: “We want to work.”
One trader, Mohamed Fedi, told AFP afterwards there were “no more customers.”
“We have closed shop,” he said, adding that the shops provide a livelihood to some 200 families.
- Highly unstable -
Beyond its famous architecture, the village also bears historical and spiritual significance.
The village was named after a 12th-century Sufi saint, Abu Said Al-Baji, who had established a religious center there. His shrine still sits atop the hill.
The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status.
Experts say solutions to help preserve Sidi Bou Said could include restricting new development, building more retaining walls and improving drainage to prevent runoff from accumulating.
Chokri Yaich, a geologist speaking to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, said climate change has made protecting the hill increasingly urgent, warning of more storms like last week’s.
The hill’s clay-rich soil loses up to two thirds of its cohesion when saturated with water, making it highly unstable, Yaich explained.
He also pointed to marine erosion and the growing weight of urbanization, saying that construction had increased by about 40 percent over the past three decades.
For now, authorities have yet to announce a protection plan, leaving home and shop owners anxious, as the weather remains unpredictable.
