Syria: Why could organizing elections take 'as long as four years'? | DW News

Syria's information minister says the transition government is committed to media freedom following decades of censorship under the Assad dictatorship.

The acting leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said introducing a new constitution and organizing elections could take as long as four years. He says Syria needs time to rebuild its legal system and hold a census to facilitate a legitimate vote. Some Syrians have expressed concern over the timescale.

For more on this, we talk to Karam Shaar. He specializes in Syria’s political economy and is based in New Zealand.

And we speak to Zedoun Alzoubi. He is a governance and peacebuilding expert.

00:00 Syria's new transition government commits to media freedom
00:32 Interview with Karam Shaar
04:06 Interview with Zedoun Alzoubi

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[Wastelandmatrix]

To be fair, the German Constitution (Grundgesetz) was established in 1949 so about four years after WWII.

[David-Rymer]

I would honetly rather have tham take longer and do it right than rush it and not have the legal framework in place

[kaanyagzer]

Think of a country.
Its infrastructure has been destroyed and a huge part of its population is scattered all over the world. Also war-weary and state organs are inoperable, social structure collapsed.
You must provide electricity, water, repair roads, remove debris and show your people that they can return safely.
You should re-establish the State almost from scratch and also make a brand new Constitution.
There is also a need to take a census, renew land registry records and make the address system operational; again.
... If you go to an election without doing these, the results of that election will be open to manipulation and doubt.
People will criticize you because one dictator left and a new one came.
Four years is a very ambitious period to create a fair and legal election environment, I hope they succeed.

[glockguy]

Lets see what happens. Historically, they will just keep power.

Al Shaara is basically giving himself a full mandate. We'll wait and see. I think they should be given the benefit of the doubt, given the situation Syria is in, but the Syrian people have to keep their new government in check!

[meir]

It is difficult to imagine that Syria will be more democratic than most Arab countries, for example, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

[Red-rwts]

An ex Isis AND Al Qaida leader will probably be an exemple of a guy leading to democracy and inclusiveness. 😅
I think as long as he serves the interests of the US, Israel, Turkey, and the golf monarchies, he can take 20 years to have elections . The media will support him.

[Syrian-teacher]

Four years might seem long, but after decades of Assad’s dictatorship, rebuilding democracy takes time. Fair elections need strong institutions, security, and inclusion for all Syrians—this isn’t a process to rush. 🕊

[Abdullm]

Four years is reasonable. Heck, it's even a little bit too soon

[smn]

They marched against power, but when they got power, they crushed the marchers.

[Mrinternational]

4 year becomes 8, and 8 becomes 16. 😂 we will see. But considering Turkey has a major hand in the game. The election will come when Turkey says

[hanaashaba]

Happy new year Syria, wishing the people of Syria a safe and quiet year.

[Jayhannes]

It makes sense. It took Germany also 4 years to draft a constitution and have free electuons afger ww2

[AB-fijt]

If the west says it democracy, it is democracy even isis is in power with sharia law in place.😂😂😂

[IronWarrior]

It was Iran's fault. In a meeting between Russia, Iran, and Turkey, they (Iran in particular) promised Turkey that Assad will not retake the Idlib area, hence stopping the 2019-2020 offensive short. Assad's troops were explicitly discouraged from finishing the job. This gave Turkey's proxies a vital breathing space, rebuilding their strength for 4 years after the ceasefire. And the rest is history. You can say Turkey out played Iran.

[quakerninja]

I feel like Germany is looking to Syria for a new energy partnership after the Russian one worked out so well. Don't do it.

[goodlearnerbadstudent]

Isn't the constitution supposed to be higher than democracy? It requires consensus from people, yes, but its not supposed to be democratic.

So that, if say 80% of the people vote to get rid of a minority group that is 20%(these numbers are coincidental, idk any group in that country), the constitution would, by law, outlaw said action.

[LegaliseFinland]

Finally asking the right question. A democratic Syria is an unlikely outcome from this.

[SammyJones-iv]

here now eu stop russia gas and so on usa will put gas and so on up to 4 or 5time(here it will go up from usa

[Playerone]

Asad aslo said the similiar good things when he became president, let's see how things unfold