A torn poster of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar, on the facade of a building in Damascus after the fall of the regime. (Credit: Obeda Jbara/L'Orient Today)
Ahmad al-Sharaa's first address to the nation on Jan. 30 immediately caused a stir among Syrians in the diaspora, many forced into exile during Assad's dictatorship, who scrutinized the speech and warned of the threat of another authoritarian at the head of the state.There were questions as to why Sharaa only appeared on television once the state-run news agency, SANA, had reported that Assad's Baath Party and parliament were being dissolved, the 2012 Constitution frozen, and all "political and civil bodies claiming to be of the revolution" integrated into state institutions. There is concern, too, about the vagueness surrounding the duration of Syria's delicate transitional phase, led by Sharaa as interim president and the lack of civil society representatives.Women and minorities are on edge about how...
Ahmad al-Sharaa's first address to the nation on Jan. 30 immediately caused a stir among Syrians in the diaspora, many forced into exile during Assad's dictatorship, who scrutinized the speech and warned of the threat of another authoritarian at the head of the state.There were questions as to why Sharaa only appeared on television once the state-run news agency, SANA, had reported that Assad's Baath Party and parliament were being dissolved, the 2012 Constitution frozen, and all "political and civil bodies claiming to be of the revolution" integrated into state institutions. There is concern, too, about the vagueness surrounding the duration of Syria's delicate transitional phase, led by Sharaa as interim president and the lack of civil society representatives.Women and minorities are on edge about how...
