The features of the new Syrian state began to emerge a month after Ahmad al-Sharaa (formerly Abu Muhammad al-Julani) assumed power in Syria.

On the military side, al-Sharaa issued several decisions, most notably the appointment of Major General Marhaf Abu Qasra, an agricultural engineering graduate, as Minister of Defense, and the promotion of a number of officers who do not have any military academic background, most of whom are Turkestani, Tajik, and Chechen and have not yet obtained Syrian citizenship and came to the country motivated by jihad, raising the slogans of the Islamic Caliphate.

It was noted that Syrian army officers were excluded, whether those who surrendered themselves to the new leadership or even defectors who left the fighting during the past years.

A military parade was also held in the streets of Damascus, in which the new flag was absent and the black flag was raised, while the Ministry of Interior announced the opening of recruitment in the police and security services, where applicants will be subjected to a quick course that will last only 20 days.

Politically and security-wise, al-Sharaa rewarded his loyal men who stood by him during the years of factional fighting in northwestern Syria by appointing them to various positions, which sparked a wave of criticism inside Syria. However, al-Sharaa justified this by saying: “The talk about appointing all officials from the same political orientation is correct because the stage requires consensus, and this is one of the necessities of the stage, and we do not exclude anyone.”

For example, Maher al-Sharaa, brother of Ahmad al-Sharaa, was appointed as Minister of Health and is one of the ministers in the government in which all members hold Turkish citizenship. Maher Marwan, appointed as Governor of Damascus, is al-Sharaa’s cousin and is married to his wife’s sister. Marwan is known as Abu Majed al-Shami and is involved in many cases of torture in prisons, especially in the torture of defendants in the case of collaborators, which sparked widespread popular resentment against al-Julani and led to many demonstrations in Idlib calling for his overthrow.

Related News

Millions of Syrians are at risk of water, food insecurity this year

Shattered lives and broken homes echo the vanishing women of Lebanon

The founder of the General Security Service in the "Salvation Government" in Idlib, Anas Khattab, nicknamed "Abu Ahmed Hudood", was appointed as head of the General Intelligence Service in Syria. This title goes back to his assumption of the title of "Emir of the Borders" in the "Islamic State in Iraq", before joining al-Sharaa in "al-Nusra".

As for Aisha al-Dabs, the head of the Women’s Office in the interim government, she had stirred up a storm of resentment and controversy after statements in which she expressed her rejection of dialogue with any party that does not agree with her ideas, her reliance on Islamic law, and her rejection of adopting the secular or civil model.

The interim government also changed the names of all government facilities that were called "Tishreen" in commemoration of the war waged by Syria and Egypt against “Israel” in 1973. The change also affected the educational curricula for children in Syrian schools, as the subject of national education was completely deleted along with everything related to the two former presidents, Assad the father and his son, and some of the fighters who made Syria's independence in 1946. Moreover, everything related to the Ottoman occupation of Arab land and Darwin's theory of evolution were deleted with the latter being labeled as "blasphemy". Lessons related to Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and the ancient gods were also deleted, and the interpretation of some Quranic verses in the Islamic religious education subject was changed to become more strict and explicitly describe Christians as having strayed from the path of truth.

Many questions are being raised today in Syrian society about the legitimacy of these decisions and their legal mechanism before the formation of a new constitution in the country and under temporary rule and a transitional period whose goal is to manage the affairs of institutions that may extend for four years, according to al-Sharaa, who spoke of the imminent convening of a comprehensive national conference for Syrians, to which representatives of all segments of the Syrian people will be invited. 

The identity of the participants and the methods of their selection have not yet been known, but several positions have been recorded, the first of which is from the Syrian opposition coalition, which said that it would refuse to participate in the conference if the invitation is extended to the coalition as individuals and not as a political institution.

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East John X Yazigi said he had not received any invitation from the new administration regarding the conference and that he was waiting for al-Sharaa to visit the Patriarchate, reminding him of the established traditions in which all Syrian presidents since the era of independence had visited the Patriarchate headquarters.

While violent military campaigns are being carried out against those who have not surrendered their weapons on the Syrian coast, the spiritual leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, categorically rejected the people of Sweida surrendering their guns or the entry of any military faction from the new administration until the new constitution is written and the final form of the state is crystallized, calling for international monitoring of this process to avoid any loophole in the future.