New authorities can’t satisfy everyone, says Syria president

DAMASCUS - Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on March 31 that a new transitional government would aim for consensus in rebuilding the war-torn country but acknowledged it would be unable to satisfy everyone.

The transitional 23-member Cabinet

– without a prime minister – was announced on March 29, more than three months after Mr Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led an offensive that toppled long-time president Bashar al-Assad.

Mr Sharaa said the new government’s goal was rebuilding the country but warned that it “will not be able to satisfy everyone”.

“Any steps we take will not reach consensus – this is normal – but we must reach a consensus” as much as possible, he told a gathering at the presidential palace broadcast on Syrian television after prayers for the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday.

The autonomous Kurdish-led administration in north-east Syria had rejected the government’s legitimacy the day after it was announced, saying it “does not reflect the country’s diversity”.

The authorities are seeking to reunite and rebuild the country and its institutions after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Some of Mr Sharaa’s closest supporters and other figures aligned with him make up the majority of the new Cabinet.

Mr Sharaa said the ministers were chosen for their competence and expertise, “without particular ideological or political orientations”.

Most members are Sunni Muslim, reflecting the demographic make-up of Syria, ruled for decades by the Assad clan, which belongs to the Alawite minority.

Amid international calls for an inclusive transition, the new government has four ministers from minority groups in Syria – a Christian, a Druze, a Kurd and an Alawite, none of whom was handed key portfolios.

Mr Sharaa said the new government’s make-up took into consideration “the diversity of Syrian society” while rejecting a quota system for religious or ethnic minorities, instead opting for “participation”.

“A new history is being written for Syria... we are all writing it,” he told the gathering.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on March 31 that the bloc was “ready to engage with the new government in order to help tackle the immense challenges ahead”.

A US State Department spokeswoman, meanwhile, said Washington hoped “this announcement represents a positive step”, but it would not ease sanctions until it had verified progress on priorities including acting against “terrorism”.

Mr Sharaa in March signed into force a constitutional declaration regulating the country’s transitional period, set for five years.

Some experts and rights groups have warned that it concentrates power in Mr Sharaa’s hands and fails to include enough protections for minorities.

March also saw the worst sectarian bloodshed since Mr Assad’s overthrow, with civilian massacres in Alawite-majority areas.

Mr Sharaa has previously vowed to prosecute those behind the “bloodshed of civilians” and set up a fact-finding committee. AFP