The current emergence of Islamist groups in Syria most especially Hayat Tahir al-Sham has raised damaging discourses concerning their goals as well as the future of Syria. One of them is their operational topping in the seizing of state institutions, which if achieved, will really alter the socio-political landscape of the Syria in a big way.
New policies as the reform of the education system show how HTS tries to exercise control over institutions. The changes in curriculum proposed are eradicating all references to Assad’s regime, changing the religious material, and erasing concepts like evolution. Opponents state that these changes insert an Islamists’ attributes, which might completely eliminate Syrian secular learning legacy and make the divides in society wider.
The Islamists continue with the appointment of people with extremists linkages to other strategic governmental positions, the above strategies confirm. For example, the appointment of Shadi al-Waisi, who used to be a jurist of Jabhat al-Nusra, to be a Minister of Justice increases the concern of a theoretical move towards a less flexible, a more anointed rule of law. Such appointments indicate an attempt at the introduction of Islamist doctrines at the heart of Syria’s bureaucracy.
The Islamists’ story of the situation is much more positive as they depict themselves as liberators, who will bring people to the new Islamic order. At the same time, this view poses several questions regarding representativeness and the probable future exclusion of non-Islamist parts of Syrian population. Religious identity in governance might marginalise those of other faith and those calling for a separation of religion and state which might worsen internal conflict.
However, the experience of Islamists’ penetration into state institutions may have greater scenarios for the development of events in Middle Eastern countries. The reason for this is that some of them have links to the far right groups which would make diplomats have strained relations and work against the existing peace process for the long-standing conflict in Syria. The international community cannot remain indifferent to the new power formations but at the same time it cannot ‘disguise’ potentially resentful rule.
Therefore, the story of the Islamists’ consolidation of power over state institutions in Syria is told as a narrative of reform and liberation that has obvious dangers. It is quite a danger to bring out division within societies, scapegoating, and pressure on international relationships. It is therefore imperative to comprehend these phenomenon for any interest to grasp the future of Syria which has reach a point where is faces two very different systems of governance and order.
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