Syria's New Constitution Faces Criticism for Exclusionary Provisions

Syria’s newly adopted constitution is facing criticism from legal experts and political groups arguing that its loopholes could deepen division and instability in the conflict-ridden country.

Three months after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a constitutional declaration Thursday that will serve as Syria’s constitution during the five-year transitional period.

Al-Sharaa — leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded the offensive against Assad’s leadership in December 2024 — said following the signing ceremony that he hoped the document would mark “the beginning of a new history for Syria, where oppression is replaced by justice, destruction by construction, ignorance by education and torture by mercy.”

The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in north and east Syria, a de facto civilian authority affiliated with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controls nearly one-third of Syria’s territory, was the first to reject the constitution, calling it exclusionary.

“The so-called constitutional declaration contains a framework and articles similar to those adopted by the Baath government,” it said, referring to the ruling party that governed Syria from 1963 to late 2024.

Legal experts also argue that the 53-article document fails to adequately reflect Syria’s realities, particularly its ethnic and religious diversity.

“The draft speaks generally of Syrians who resisted the regime, without distinguishing between Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians and other ethnic groups,” said Jian Badrakhan, vice chairman of the Germany-based Kurdish Center for Studies and Legal Consultancy.

“However, Article 1 explicitly uses the term ‘Arab’ in the country’s name, undermining the inclusive language found elsewhere in the document.”

Badrakhan told VOA that “the absence of any reference to the Kurds, as the second-largest ethnic group in the country, or to the Assyrians, one of Syria’s oldest indigenous peoples, is a clear rejection of Syria’s multicultural identity.”

Definition, limits

The constitution defines Syria as an Arab republic and mandates that the president must be Muslim. Additionally, it limits official recognition to “heavenly religions,” referring to Abrahamic faiths like Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

“This effectively denies recognition to several long-standing religious communities in Syria, including the Yazidis and Druze,” Badrakhan said. “Over time, this provision could also be interpreted as a means to exclude the Ismaili and Alawite sects [of Shiite Islam] from formal recognition.”

According to the CIA World Factbook, Arabs constitute 50% of Syria’s nearly 24 million people, while Alawites, Kurds and Christians make up 35%. The remaining percentage is made up of Druze, Ismaili, and other ethnic and religious groups.

There are also concerns that the temporary constitution grants vast powers to the interim president and promotes Islamist ideology. Al-Sharaa’s HTS is an Islamist group that is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.

“The constitution says there is separation between government branches, but that is clearly false,” said Sarbast Nabi, professor of political philosophy at Koya University in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“Article 24 stipulates that the president gets to pick 20 percent of members of the transitional parliament, which shows there is no separation between the executive and legislative branches,” he told VOA, adding that the document “will not achieve stability in Syria.”

The constitution justifies the inclusion of the clause “to ensure fair representation and efficiency.”

Anwar al-Bunni, co-founder and executive director of the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, says that while the constitutional declaration has some promising provisions – such as the creation of a commission for transitional justice and the establishment of political parties and associations – there are significant concerns.

“The declaration oversteps its role as a constitutional declaration, functioning more like a mini-constitution by predetermining the name of the republic, designating Islam as its main source of legislation and defining presidential powers – effectively undermining the will of the Syrian people,” he said.

Such matters, he told VOA, should be decided through referendums.

“All ethnicities and religions in the country want constitutional guarantees,” al-Bunni said. “Since this is a temporary document, the formation of a permanent constitution must include discussions over all these points and issues.”

Geir Pedersen, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, said in a statement Friday that he “hopes this [constitutional declaration] will move Syria toward restoring the rule of law and promoting an orderly inclusive transition.”

Since Assad’s fall, the U.S. and other Western nations have repeatedly called for an inclusive government in Syria that protects the country’s ethnic and religious groups.