Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of Syrian Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which ousted Bashar al-Assad last month, will assume the presidency during Syria’s transitional period. The period will also see a suspension of the constitution and a dissolution of parliament.  

The announcements came during a conference in Damascus called the Declaration of the Victory of the Syrian Revolution, attended by the armed factions that fought alongside HTS in the offensive. The spokesperson for Syria’s Military Operations Department, Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, announced plans to dissolve all military and rebel factions and integrate them into the state military, as well as plans to suspend the constitution for a transitional period. Sharaa is also set to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional period until a new constitution is adopted, though there was no mention of when a new constitution might be drafted.

In his opening speech, Sharaa identified the top priorities of the de facto Syrian government as “filling the power vacuum, maintaining civil peace, building state institutions, working to develop economic infrastructure and restoring Syria’s regional and international standing." 

A key component to maintaining peace and security in Syria will be the dissolution of the scores of military groups throughout the country, officials said. The process of dissolution, according to Ghani, will include “all military factions, political and civil revolutionary bodies,” which are to be integrated into state institutions. Presumably, this includes Sharaa's own group, HTS, an al-Qaeda offshoot, which wasn't mentioned by name in the statement.