It could take as long as four years to hold elections in Syria, the country’s de facto leader said in the first official comments on an election timetable.

In a recorded interview with Saudi state-owned TV, due to be broadcast on Sunday evening, Ahmed al-Sharaa said that drafting a new constitution could take up to three years and that Syrians would start to see improvements to the country within a year.

Amid protests across Syria over women’s and minority rights, Sharaa – also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – told Al Arabiya that every citizen has the right to express their opinion peacefully, as long as public institutions remain unharmed.

Sharaa also rejected the idea of factional power-sharing, saying it could interfere with the transitional process.

“The current appointments were essential for the period and not intended to exclude anyone,” he told Al Arabiya.