Syrian leader: New elections could take up to 4 years, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham will be dissolved

Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says in an interview with Al Arabiya, the first time he has commented on a possible timetable for elections since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.

Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, Sharaa says in excerpts from the interview with the Saudi state-owned broadcaster. He also says it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.

Sharaa leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which ousted Assad on Dec. 8, ending decades of Assad family rule and a 13-year civil war. He says HTS will be dissolved in a national dialogue conference.

On foreign ties, Sharaa says Syria has strategic interests with Russia. Russia has military bases in Syria, was a close Assad ally during the long civil war, and has granted Assad asylum.

Sharaa said earlier this month that Syria’s relations with Russia should serve common interests.

Sharaa also says he hopes the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will lift sanctions imposed on Syria. Senior US diplomats who visited Damascus this month said Sharaa came across as pragmatic and that Washington has decided to remove a $10 million bounty on the HTS leader’s head.