Syria's leader Al-Sharaa signs constitutional declaration

Damascus [Syria], March 14: Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a constitutional declaration on Thursday that establishes a political transition period of five years.
Al-Sharaa said he hoped it would mark "a new history" for the war-scarred country.
Not long after an Islamist-led fighter offensive deposed long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Syria's transitional authorities abolished a 2012 constitution and dissolved parliament.
Earlier this month, al-Sharaa formed a committee to draft the constitutional declaration that will be enforced during the transitional period.
Al-Sharaa said he hoped "this will be a new history for Syria, in which we replace injustice with justice, destruction with construction, ignorance with knowledge, and suffering with mercy."
A parliament will have full legislative powers for a transitional five-year period.
The president will oversee the executive, and have the right to declare a state of emergency.
Two-thirds of the parliament will be elected, while the rest are to be appointed by the president, a member of the committee said as he summarized the declaration live on television.
Syria will retain Islamic jurisprudence as the main basis of law in the country and the president must be a Muslim, the committee added.
The declaration stipulates freedom of expression and press, and protects women's political rights. It also includes issuing a new law regulating political participation, after al-Assad's regime only allowed certain parties to take part in the political life.
Late in January, al-Sharaa was appointed as interim president during a meeting of commanders of armed groups that had fought alongside his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia to oust al-Assad.
Once affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, the group has since broken away from both organizations, and al-Sharaa has sought to portray himself as a moderate.
Source: Qatar Tribune