Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) moved quickly in the weeks following the fall of the Baath regime, taking steps to entrench its political and military presence in Syria without regard for existing political movements or the country’s social fabric.
Military dominance at the “Victory Conference”
HTS held its so-called “Victory Conference” on 29 January 2024. The only participants were armed groups loyal to HTS and mercenaries aligned with the occupying Turkish state; no political or social force from within Syria was included.
During the conference, a series of decisions were adopted to form a new governing authority.
Ahmed Al-Sharaa (Al-Jolani) was declared head of the transition process and was granted broad powers, including representing Syria on the international stage and establishing a legislative assembly. The decisions also called for dissolving existing security bodies and the army, replacing them with new institutions, and annulling the 2012 constitution.
Observers note that these measures effectively hand al-Jolani sweeping executive, legislative, and judicial powers without any clear constitutional basis, an approach that contradicts the principles typically expected in transitional periods and risks laying the foundations for a new authoritarian rule.
Military appointments
After the conference, the government moved to appoint several mercenary leaders, including Mohammed Al-Jasim (Abu Amsha) and Saif Bolad (Abu Bakr), to the ministries of defence and interior, as well as to brigade command positions, despite their documented involvement in war crimes in previous years.
It also assigned key posts to numerous foreign armed factions linked to Al-Qaeda, a step that has deeply shaken public confidence in the prospect of forming a new “national army.”
Political moves that erased pluralism
On the political front, Al-Jolani established a preparatory committee tasked with selecting members of parliament without holding elections, an action widely seen as an attempt to centralise a presidential-style system that runs counter to the aspirations of the Syrian people and to the foundations of any democratic order.
In the new government, commanders from HTS accounted for nearly 98 percent of all positions, shaping the administration of cities and state institutions. Sources noted that each institution was effectively overseen by a “sheikh” responsible for both administrative and security affairs.
The General Secretariat for Political Affairs, announced by al-Jolani, placed under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and given offices across Syrian cities to supervise political and social life, was interpreted as a revival of the former Baathist model known as the “National Progressive Front.”
A constitutional declaration issued without consensus
The government dissolved the parliament without explanation and annulled the 2012 Constitution, creating a constitutional vacuum that lasted until March 2025. When March arrived, authorities announced a constitutional declaration without consulting any political or societal force inside Syria.
Opposition groups across the country stated that the declaration resurrected the Baathist model of one party, one religion, and one nation, placing power squarely in the hands of the president and extinguishing any prospect of pluralism or democracy.
Violence intensifies
A period stretching from 8 December 2024 to the end of November 2025 witnessed a surge in violations and violence attributed to the Syrian Interim Government and other armed actors in the region, leaving 10,923 people dead. Among them were 8,180 civilians, including 438 children and 620 women.
Of those killed, 1,700 were Alawites who died in massacres carried out by forces of the Syrian Interim Government.
In July 2025, attacks launched by Interim Government forces in Sweida (Suwayda) claimed 638 lives.
Violence spread beyond government-controlled areas as well. In Homs, members of the Bani Khalid tribe attacked Alawite neighbourhoods, killing two people and injuring ten others.
Available information indicates that, since the fall of the Baath regime, the Interim Government has pursued security, political, and military policies aimed at seizing full control of the state while excluding all other societal components. These policies have produced a constitutional vacuum, dismantled the political process, and driven a sharp rise in violations and violence.
Source: ANHA