ReutersThe Syrian temporary president told the National Conference on Dialogue that the country has a “historic” opportunity to renovate after Bashar Al-Assad’s Bashar.
Ahmed al-Sharaa also emphasized the need to integrate armed groups into the army and that the state has a monopoly on weapons, saying that the Syrian “power lies in its unity.”
Of the 600 delegates, they were asked to make recommendations on transitional justice, economics, the new Constitution and other topics for conducting a new transitional government.
However, there was a criticism that the procedure had rushed, and the Kurdish Federation of Leader leaders and autonomous administration that controlled northeastern Syria were not invited.
The Assad family ruled Syria for over 50 years with an iron fist, and Bashar became President in 2000 after his father Hafez’s death.
In 2011, Bashar brutally demolished a quiet pro-democratic uprising, encouraging a devastating civil war in which more than 600,000 people were killed, and 12 million others were forced to escape from their homes.
On December 8, he fled to Russia after the rebel Union led by Shara’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) lowered from northwestern Syria and entered Damascus in a space of just 12 days.
Seven weeks later, Sharaa was appointed president because of the “transitional period” by his fellow rebel commanders. They also announced the cancellation of the 2012 Constitution, the dissolution of parliament, army and security agencies and integration of all rebel groups into new state institutions that replaced them.
Sharaa promised to hold a national conference on dialogue to discuss the future of Syria, which he said would follow the “Constitutional Declaration” that would serve during the transition.
“Syria was released alone, and she replies to build up on her own,” Sharaa said in a speech at the National Conference on Damascus Dialogue on Tuesday.
“What we live today is an exceptional, historical and rare opportunity. We must use every moment to serve the interests of our people and our country.”
The organizational committee said that six working groups will be formed to discuss the transitional judiciary system, the new constitution, reforms and construction of state institutions, personal freedoms, the role of civil society and the future economic model of the country.
The groups would agree on non -binding recommendations, which will be presented to the new transitional government, which will take power on Saturday and assist in the design of the Constitutional Declaration, the Committee states.
Sharaa said that the transitional right of justice would be formed soon to “renew people’s rights and start holding those who committed crimes against Syrians during the Civil War.
He also reiterated that unannounced armed groups must disarm and teach their territory.
“The unity of weapons and their monopoly by the state is not a luxury, but a duty and obligation,” he said. “Syria is indivisible; it is a complete whole, and its power lies in its unity.”
The forces of the temporary government control the largest cities of Syria, but large parts of the country are still holding different armed groups.
They also include Kurdish Syrian Democratic forces (SDF), a militia alliance that supports the US, which controls most of the northeast and serves as the armed forces of the autonomous administration of northern and eastern Syria (Aanes).
ReutersSDF has so far refused to integrate its forces into a new Syrian army, although the negotiations have been taking place in recent weeks.
The conference organizers said that SDF and Aanes were not invited for this rejection and that the Kurds would be represented in Damascus, even if they were not.
However, SDF SDF spokesman told the AFP news agency that “the exclusion of the SDF -and the large parts of the Syrian society confirms that the conference serves to please the outside world and not seek a better future.”
Thirty -five parties in Aanes also criticized what they claimed to be the “token representation” of Kurds and other minorities, saying that such events were “meaningless, worthless and would not contribute to finding real solutions in the current crisis of the country.”
Moutasem Sioufi from day after, an independent group of civil society participating in the conference, she told the BBC that it is important for all groups to be involved.
“We need to have a dialogue with all Syrian groups, with all Syrian forces, especially those who have a great impact on the ground. Without Syria, she would face very difficult to maintain herself together,” he said.
The results of the conference will be carefully observed by the international community, which has invited the inclusive political process that represents many ethnic and religious communities in the country.
During the Civil War, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union imposed a wide range of sanctions from Syria, which targeted the Assad government and its allies in response to crimes committed during the Civil War.
They abolished some sanctions that were crippled by the Syrian economy from the fall of Assad, but gave further steps dependent on new Syrian leaders who promised respect for minority rights and movement to democracy.
On Monday, the EU announced that it suspended sanctions on its energy, transport and banking sector to facilitate humanitarian assistance and renewal.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Symbani welcomed the decision, but criticized international sanctions still existing in speech at the National Dialogue Conference.
“These sanctions are illegitimate and are not based on any legal or moral foundations,” he said. “They are used as a means of pressure on the will of the Syrian people.”
HTS, a former Al-Qaeda branch, are subject to separate sanctions, as it is still banned as a terrorist organization by UN, USA, EU and UK.