Quick Take on Syria’s Constitutional Declaration
Yesterday the Syrian self-declared president Ahmad Al Shari’ received the final report from the committee he appointed to draft it. Many anticipated this declaration - both critics and supporters. And in true Ahmad Al Shari’ nature the language left plenty for both. Here are my first thoughts on the declaration:
Three Things You Should Know:
Islamic Fiqh vs Principles of Islamic Sharia: For the untrained eye, the second article of the declaration making Islamic Fiqh or jurisprudence the main source of legislation might seem a less strict form of declaring Sharia as the country’s law, but the reality is nuanced. Making Islamic Fiqh the basis for legislation will put more constraint on legislations and laws. Most Arab and Muslim countries adopt Islamic principles as the main source for legislation and use general principles like justice, freedom, dignity etc. These principles allow the government to follow a very liberal approach to legislating. As long as the law does not contradict a citizen’s right to justice, freedom, or dignity the law can be passed. It is not tied to Fiqh - requiring a specific school of interpretation. However, in Syria’s new constitutional declaration, listing Islamic jurisprudence as the source for legislation will mean that any laws passed must comply with a very strict set of laws and edicts. Interestingly enough the declaration itself does not name which Islamic school of thought would be adopted to interpret, legislate and pass laws. So, they essentially say it will be very strict but not how they will interpret this strictness. Only by having a clear answer on which school of Islamic thought the new Syria will adopt can we determine what type of laws we should expect to prevail.
Parliament: According to the declaration, the hybrid Parliament (or People's council) will be 1) ⅓ appointed by the president and 2) ⅔ elected by a select committee. This select committee is appointed by a superior committee. Who appoints the superior committee? The self-declared president. This is a clear sign that the new administration is adamant on consolidating power and choosing allies who allow them to do so. The legislative body is appointed both directly and indirectly by the self declared president Ahmad A Shari’.
The President’s Authority: Not only will Al Shari’ be choosing the parliament but he will also have the authority to appoint and dismiss ministers. In this interim constitutional declaration, the president will be able to pass bylaws, policies and implementation processes with what he sees fit. In a policy gap, like the one we have now in Syria, Al Shari will have the sole power to fill that gap. It’s kind of like executive orders. With parliament and ministers being basically appointed by him, he has free reign not only throughout this transitional period but in the drafting and legislating of the actual constitution to come. If this power trip is not enough, he also gave himself the power to appoint all seven members of the constitutional court, and the right to appoint his own security council that he needs for issuing national emergency or martial laws. While he has curated hollow institutions to appeal to the international stage - they all lay in his hands.
My Take:
In his true mercurial form, Ahmad Al Shari’ again delivers a vague identity, which can be interpreted by supporters, critics and watchers in different ways. The only area where Al Shari’ is clear is his true and absolute authority. The interim constitutional declaration which should have served as a road map to governance and state building served instead a highway to power.
Maybe most telling from yesterday’s event is not the piece of paper itself but the ceremony surrounding it, not only was the declaration was not initially shared by official state channels as soon as it was received by the president (instead a telegram channel was the first to publish it) but the people attending the ceremony were more telling. There were no representatives of the Kurds. Remember Shari’ just hastily signed a (vague)agreement with the SDF. No Christian, nor Alawites, or any other sects were present for what should be the building block of the new Syria. The message the ceremony sent was clear, the Sunnis appoint, the Sunnis draft and approve and the rest is details.
So the real question that remains is Who Cares? Assad is gone, Hezbollah has collapsed and Iran retreated and licked its wounds. We are/were worried about Al Shari’ and his Jihadi soldiers and Jihad- adjacent supporters, but it all seems to be fine, no? Yes, there is violence but Syrians have been killing each other for a decade now. He signed an agreement with SDF - a very vague one but at least it's signed and he's been keeping his Jihadi guys in check, for now. Even his grand Mufti from Idlib walked back his statements on the Kufr of all Arab leaders and their regimes. Everyone seems to be playing ball. So again Who Cares?
Maybe over a million Syrians who have given their life in the quest for freedom, justice and liberty - Syrians who are of different walks of life and school of thought. Several other million Syrians who have fled their homeland and were hoping to go back and build a better, brighter and more inclusive future for their kids. Syrians who fought the brutality of Assad and his forces and do not want to see it recreated but with a different perpetrator.
Who cares? The Salafi Jihadi base that for years has been groomed to create a strict Sunni entity, similar to the Taliban. They care - one of the foremost Salafi preachers in exile was condemning Al Shari’s flip- flopping while also calling out other theologians, notably Abu Qatada Al Falastini, for their role in blessing such a constitution. (The fact that none of these Syrian theologians are being consulted should be a point of question in and of itself). Shortly after the declaration, I saw the wave of anger and discontent among a large number of Al Shari’s core group in Idlib, several prominent Telegram channels denounced the constitutional declaration and deemed it un-Islamic and a betrayal of what they fought for. They went as far as saying that Shari’ is misleading his core group by pretending to gradually introduce Islamic Sharia law and instead he's gradually introducing a secular rule. The cracks in his alliances are beginning to show.
For Al Shari’ he sees this declaration as a necessary step for regional and international recognition of his absolute power. Domestically, he's using the vagueness of it to tame critical voices, buying time for crafting the perfect edicts to defend it. As for minorities - well, tough luck! The message is clear, the decision making table has no room for losers - only the strong men of Al Shari’s revolution get a say.