Even as many Syrians are celebrating the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad dynasty, democracy remains a distant dream as President Ahmed al-Sharaa has declared elections would not be held before 2029. With continuing sectarian violence, Syrians stare at an uncertain future.
Many Syrians gathered in major cities on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad dynasty that had ruled the country for five decades. But not everyone was celebrating in the country.
Over the past one year, thousands of Syrians have been killed in sectarian violence that President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government has failed to tackle. In fact, his administration has been accused of tacitly supporting sectarian killings.
For example, March 2025 witnessed massacres in western Syria in which around 1,700 Alawites were killed — the community of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. These killings were attributed to pro-government armed groups. There has been little to no evidence that these groups have been punished for their actions.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
In similar waves of violence, Druze minority members have also been attacked. Israel has used such violence as a pretext to conduct airstrikes inside Syria at facilities of Sharaa’s government.
In any case, democracy remains a distant dream for Syrians as Sharaa has declared that elections would not be held before 2029. He has said that five years of ’transitional period’ under his government is a must to set up institutions, laws, and a new constitution in Syria before elections could be held.
But many Syrians still took to streets and major squares to celebrate. Festivities in several major cities included fireworks lighting up the sky, music blaring from cars, and the country’s new flag waving fr