BANGKOK, December 9. /TASS/. Syria’s future looks uncertain after President Bashar Assad’s resignation as the Islamic State (IS) terror group (outlawed in Russia) may take advantage of a political vacuum, Roostum Vansu, lecturer with the Institute for Peace Studies at Prince of Songkla University, told TASS.
"Recently, Hadi al-Bahra, the political leader of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, <...> proposed an 18-month transition period to create a safe and neutral environment for elections, to propose a draft constitution in six months and to let the people hold a referendum on the governance system before holding a general election, with civil servants continuing to work during the transition," he pointed out.
However, the expert believes that "Syria’s political future seems fragile and uncertain." "In a country of ethno-religious diversity, the Kurds, who make up ten percent of the country, control more than a third of the country under US protection. In a country where the Shia population is 13%, they are losing their dominance. And most importantly, the question of the unity of the opposition groups after the Assad government was overthrown. In the past, they may have been united when they wanted to topple the government, but once they were overthrown, will they be able to maintain this unity?" he said.
"Finally, the IS group is still in Syria. Even though it only controls a small area, there is no guarantee that a political conflict in the future will not create a vacuum for this terrorist group to grow again," the analyst concluded.
On November 27, Syria’s armed opposition units launched a large-scale offensive on the positions of government forces in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. By the evening of December 7, they seized several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs, and entered the Syrian capital, Damascus, on December 8, while the army withdrew from the city. Syrian President Bashar Assad stepped down and left the country following intra-Syrian talks.