Syria: PM extends hand to opposition and calls on people not to deface public property

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jalali announced on Sunday that he does not intend to leave the country, following the takeover by opposition factions in Damascus. “I belong to this country,” he said in a video address to the people of Syria.

“In these hours when people feel anxious and afraid despite their concern for this country, its institutions and facilities, I am concerned about the public facilities of the state, which are not mine and are not the property of anyone else, but rather they are the property of all Syrians,” said Al-Jalali.” We extend our hand to every Syrian citizen who is concerned about the capabilities of this country.”

He called on all citizens not to deface public property because it is their property in the end. “I am here in my home, I have not left it and I do not intend to leave it except in a peaceful manner so that I can guarantee the work of public institutions and state facilities and spread security and reassurance to our fellow citizens.”

He added his hope that everyone will think rationally, pointing out that the opposition forces have confirmed that they will not harm anyone who belongs to their Syrian homeland. “I have always worked day and night in the public and private sectors and the government and kept my eye on the interest of this country. We believe in Syria for all Syrians, Syria is the country for all its people, and it can be normal and build normal relations with its neighbours and the world without entering into any regional alliances and blocs, but this is left to any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.

The leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, known by his nom de guerre Abu Muhammad Al-Julani, also called on all opposition factions in the city of Damascus to refrain completely from approaching public institutions. He said on social media that state institutions will remain “under the supervision of the former prime minister [Al-Jalali] until they are officially handed over.” He added that “shooting in the air” is prohibited.

Fighting broke out on 27 November between the Syrian regime forces and opposition factions in the west of Aleppo Governorate. In the following days, they took control of the city of Aleppo. On Friday evening, the opposition factions extended their control over the centre of Daraa province, adjacent to the Jordanian border, which is regarded as the birthplace of the popular uprising in 2011.

On Saturday, the opposition took control of the Druze-majority city of Suwayda in the south of the country, before taking control of Homs, then entered the capital Damascus at dawn on Sunday.

After citizens took to the streets of the capital Damascus, the Syrian Army withdrew from public institutions and melted away, while the opposition factions strengthened their control over the centre of the city. Sixty-one years of Baath Party rule and 53 years of the Assad dynasty regime had ended.

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