Syria’s new transitional prime minister calls for stability and calm

The prime minister of Syria’s new transitional government has said it is time for people to “enjoy stability and calm” after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

Mohammed al-Bashir, former head of the rebel administration in the northwest, spoke to Al Jazeera after he was tasked by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies to govern until March 2025.

Bashir chaired a meeting in Damascus on Tuesday attended by members of his new government and Assad’s former cabinet to discuss the transfer of portfolios and institutions.

It came as the UN envoy for Syria said the rebels must translate their “good messages” into practice on the ground.

Meanwhile, the US secretary of state said Washington would recognize and fully support a future Syrian government as long as it emerged from a credible and inclusive process that respected minorities.

In 2011, Assad brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising, sparking a devastating civil war in which more than half a million people died and another 12 million were forced to flee their homes.

Before this week, Mohammed al-Bashir was little known outside the HTS-dominated areas of the northwestern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.

According to his resume, he trained as an electrical engineer and worked in gas plants before the start of the civil war in 2011.

In January, Bashir was appointed prime minister of the Salvation Government (SG), which HTS established to administer the territory under its control.

The SG functioned as a state, with ministries, local departments, judicial and security authorities, while maintaining a religious council guided by Islamic law.

Around four million people, many of them displaced from other parts of the country, lived under his rule.

When institutions stopped functioning in Aleppo after HTS and its allies captured the city earlier this month at the start of their lightning offensive, the SG intervened to restore public services.

Technicians reportedly helped repair local electricity and telecommunications networks, security forces patrolled the streets, doctors volunteered in hospitals, and charities distributed bread.

“It is true that Idlib is a small region that lacks resources, but they (SG officials) have a very high level of experience after starting with nothing,” HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani was heard telling him. to Assad’s former prime minister, Mohammed al. -Jalali, in a video of a meeting in Damascus on Monday.

“We will benefit from their experiences. We certainly will not ignore them,” he added.

On Tuesday, Bashir was pictured chairing a meeting of former SG ministers and ministers who served under Jalali. He was sitting in front of the Syrian opposition and HTS flags.

“(We) invite members of the former government and some directors of the administration in and around Idlib to facilitate all the necessary works for the next two months until we have a constitutional system to be able to serve the Syrian people,” Bashir told Al Jazeera later.

“We had other meetings to reactivate the institutions and be able to serve our people in Syria,” he added.

Meanwhile, life appeared to be slowly returning to normal in the capital Damascus after two days of near lockdown.

There were many pedestrians and cars on the streets, and some shops and restaurants were open.

People were also sweeping up bullet casings that were scattered on the ground around the central Umayyad Square, where many rebel fighters fired shots into the air as crowds celebrated the end of Assad’s 24-year rule.

A Muslim cleric told the BBC that Syrians were looking to the future and wanted a peaceful and united country.

“We want to establish a nation built on principles of nationalism, justice and rule of law, a technocratic state where institutions are respected and equal opportunities for all are guaranteed,” said Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Kouky.

U.N. special envoy Geir Pedersen told reporters in Geneva that the transition is necessary to ensure “representation of the widest possible spectrum of Syrian society and Syrian parties.”

“If this does not happen, we run the risk of new conflicts,” he warned.

Pedersen said the designation of HTS as a terrorist organization by the UN, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries would be a “complicating factor” in efforts to find a way forward.

HTS’s precursor, the al-Nusra Front, pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2013. But three years later, it formally cut ties with the jihadist group.

“The reality is that until now HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people… of unity, of inclusion,” Pedersen said.

“We have also seen…reassuring things on the ground” in Aleppo and Hama, another major city that was captured last week, he added.

He said the most important test would be how the transitional arrangements were organized and implemented in Damascus.

“If they really include all the different groups and all the communities in Syria… then there is the possibility of a new beginning.”

“And then I think the international community will re-examine the HTS (terrorist) list,” he added.

Later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken de facto set out a series of conditions that, if met, would see Syria enjoy full recognition from Washington.

“It is imperative that all actors involved protect civilians; respect human rights, especially of vulnerable minorities; preserve state institutions, their services to help meet the needs of Syrians; and build towards inclusive governance,” said.

“Rebel leaders’ statements in this regard are very welcome, but of course the true measure of their commitment is not just what they say but what they do.”