DAMASCUS, Feb 12, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Syria's foreign minister announced on Wednesday that a new government would take over next month from the interim cabinet formed following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, vowing that it would represent all Syrians in their diversity.

The new authorities will have to rebuild Syria's institutions after more than 50 years of Assad family rule and revive an economy smashed by nearly 
14 years of war.

Still weighed down by heavy international sanctions, the government will also need to persuade Western capitals that the jihadist origins of the rebels that toppled Assad are confined to the past.

Asaad al-Shaibani said the new cabinet would take into account the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional nature of the country, at a time when the international community has called for the protection of minorities.

"The government that will be launched March 1 will represent the Syrian people as much as possible and take its diversity into account," Shaibani said on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in the United Arab Emirates.

The Syrian people would be "partners in change," he said, adding that "changes and adjustments we made over the past two months on the political roadmap were derived and inspired by consultations with the diaspora and civil society".

Activists have also expressed concern about the rights and representation of women, while officials have insisted they will be a part of the new 
Syria.

Having seized power, the Islamist-led rebels installed an interim government headed by Mohammad al-Bashir to steer the country until March 1.

Last month, Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) that spearheaded the overthrow of Assad, was appointed interim president.

The new authorities are to form a transitional legislature with the Assad-era parliament dissolved along with the Baath party which ruled Syria for 
decades.

In an interview earlier in February, Sharaa said organising elections could take up to five years.

- Opposition in exile –

On Tuesday evening, the presidency announced that Syria's main opposition bodies that had operated in exile had handed over to Damascus the files they were handling, as part of efforts to "dissolve" institutions formed during the conflict.

The move amounts to abolishing Syria's main unarmed opposition groupings in an effort that echoed Sharaa's bid to dismantle all armed groups and incorporate them into the army.

Sharaa met in Damascus with the head of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) Bader Jamous and the head of the National Coalition Hadi Albahra.

Responding to a question about whether the move meant the dissolution of the bodies, Jamous told AFP: "yes, but there are legal procedures that need to be worked out and that will take some time".

He said members of the commission and affiliated experts will be "part of the Syrian state and support its construction".

The Istanbul-based Coalition was established in November 2012 after opposition groups and figures met in Qatar.

The Coalition is the main component of the SNC, which emerged after a meeting in Riyadh in 2015, and represented the Syrian opposition during UN-sponsored talks with the Assad government in Geneva that failed to produce any results.

HTS and other factions have themselves officially been dissolved, with their fighters to be integrated into a future national force.

The new authorities have pledged to form a committee to prepare a national dialogue conference involving all Syrians.