Bashar al-Assad Opposes Formation of Transitional Government in Syria

Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, has opposed the formation of a "transitional governing body with full executive powers," which is one of the demands of the Syrian opposition. In an interview with Russian state news agencies published on Wednesday, April 11, he stated that the "transitional period" in Syria "must be under the current constitution" and that "the next constitution will be valid when the Syrian people vote for it." The Associated Press reports that these remarks by the Syrian president are, in fact, a response to his opponents who are calling for the establishment of a "transitional government with full executive powers" in Syria. Global powers had also agreed on this idea at the June 2012 conference in Geneva, Switzerland, and this agreement remains the main basis for the Syrian peace talks. Bashar al-Assad has said that he believes it is not too difficult to reach an agreement on forming a new government in Syria that includes some opposition figures. The coalition of opponents to Bashar al-Assad has rejected the president's statements, emphasizing that his presence in the presidency negates the process of political change in the country. According to Reuters, George Sabra, a member of the opposition's High Negotiations Committee, stated: "The Syrian government, whether new or old, cannot be part of the political process if Bashar al-Assad is present." In another part of his remarks on Wednesday, the Syrian president praised the military intervention of Iran and Hezbollah in Syria, citing the Russian military operations as a key factor in his recent victories in the Syrian battles. He mentioned that the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State (ISIS) last week was due to the failure of the US-led international coalition. Meanwhile, the United States has recently bombed positions of the Islamic State and other extremist Islamist groups in Syria, killing several leaders and key officials of the ISIS organization. Assad also stated that Syrian refugees are returning home as they observe improvements in their country. In his Wednesday interview, Bashar al-Assad added that the civil war has caused $200 billion in damages. He also identified international sanctions against Syria as one of the main reasons for the people's flight from the country. It is estimated that over 270,000 people have been killed during the civil war and political crisis in Syria over the past five years, many of whom were killed due to bombings and shelling of cities and residential areas in Syria by forces supporting Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government has been accused of widespread use of barrel bombs against urban areas. The Syrian crisis has also led to about five million people from the country's nearly 23 million population seeking refuge in other countries. Iran and Russia are the only governments in the world that have officially provided financial and military support to Bashar al-Assad's government during this time.