The joy felt by the majority of Syrians since Bashar al-Assad's fall on December 8, 2024, has become tinged with concern. "We don't know what's coming," is the leitmotif now heard around Damascus. This situation was clarified on Wednesday evening, January 29, in a report by the official SANA news agency, which cited military spokesman Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani.

Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria's new strongman since December 8, has been appointed as the country's interim president. He has been tasked with forming a "temporary" legislative council, whose mandate will last throughout the "transition period." This phase's duration was not specified.

Wednesday's announcements were made at the end of a meeting, held in the Syrian capital, featuring the faction leaders who took part in the overthrow of al-Assad's Ba'ath party and regime, following a 12-day lightning offensive launched at the end of November 2024. Al-Sharaa appeared before them in military dress. He did not address the nation, despite the expectations of many Syrians, who had wanted to hear him explain his intentions. For the time being, his core policies have either been explained in interviews or reports on meetings with Western and Arab – and now even Russian – country representatives in Damascus. In an interview with the Al Arabiya channel, conducted at the end of December 2024, al-Sharaa had indicated that holding an election "could take four years," and that drafting a new constitution could take "two to three years."

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