It was billed as the first step in establishing a representative government as Syria emerged from decades of a brutal, one-family dictatorship.
But for some in Syria, the highly anticipated “national dialogue” that ended on Tuesday night fell far short of those promises. Instead, the two-day conference only added to concerns about the openness of the country’s new Islamist rulers to setting up a genuinely inclusive political process.
“We have a lot of objections to how this happened,” said Ibrahim Draji, a law professor at Damascus University who was among the hundreds of attendees at the conference. “There’s no transparency. There is no clear criteria for who gets invited,” he added.
“I’ve been a professor of law for the past 22 years, and I can tell you that this is not an actual national dialogue,” he said.
As the conference opened on Monday, the participants who gathered at the presidential palace in the capital, Damascus, had high hopes that they were about to be part of a historical event and have a hand in shaping the new political chapter in Syria.
Months earlier, the rebel coalition that seized power after ousting the longtime autocratic ruler Bashar al-Assad had pledged to establish a representative government. The first step, they said, would be a landmark meeting where leadership figures from across the country would, together with the victorious rebels, chart a different course for their fractured nation.
Despite those lofty goals, the conference was hastily organized, with invitations sent out only a day or two before it began. While community leaders, academics and religious figures attended, key groups such as the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led militia that controls much of northeastern Syria were not invited.
And rebel leaders said the recommendations that the conference issued on Tuesday night — including respecting personal freedoms and women’s rights — were not binding. It was unclear what bearing, if any, they would have on the nascent government.
Syria is navigating a once unimaginable period of transition after being ruled by the Assad family for more than 50 years. At the helm of that transition is the interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, whose rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led the offensive that toppled Mr. al-Assad in early December.
Mr. al-Shara is facing a dizzying array of challenges as he marshals a country whose delicate social fabric and economy were both shredded during nearly 14 years of civil war.
In many ways, the hastily organized conference on Tuesday reflects the competing priorities Mr. al-Shara is juggling as he scrambles to set up a functioning government.
He is under pressure to establish an internationally recognized government quickly to bolster his efforts in negotiating for badly needed financial aid from the international community. Many Arab and Western leaders have conditioned full ties with Syria’s new government — including relief from Western sanctions that have left the economy in tatters — on the creation of an inclusive political process that reflects Syria’s ethnic and religious diversity.
The European Union, which lifted some sanctions on Syria after the rebels seized power, announced on Monday that it was suspending additional restrictions on the country’s banks and on its energy and transport sectors. But European officials have said that relief will be reversed if the rebels form a government that is not consistent with E.U. values.
The urgency to create a new government has produced slapdash efforts, like this week’s conference, that have undercut the legitimacy of the political process in the eyes of some Syrians both at home and abroad.
Many in Syria greeted the fall of the Assad dynasty with elation, hoping it would usher in a more democratic era. While voicing political dissent — an act that was once effectively a death sentence — is now possible, many Syrians’ expectations for radical change have been tempered in recent weeks as Mr. al-Shara has consolidated most government control in his own hands or those of close allies.
“It feels like there’s been a downgrading of their initial promises, of what the new political process is and what the national dialogue would lead to,” said Ibrahim al-Assil, a Syrian adjunct professor of political science at George Washington University.
“Our expectations weren’t very high, but what happened was even more underwhelming than the moderate expectations,” added Dr. al-Assil, who was not involved in the dialogue.
Still, some Syrians, exhausted from more than a decade of civil war and widespread destruction, say that any political involvement, however small, is a welcome change.
“We haven’t been involved in political life or affairs for over 50 years,” said Dana Shubat, 30, an ophthalmologist in Damascus.
“I’m not sure what I was expecting,” she added, “but at least the people have the opportunity — even if it’s small — to voice our opinions on the government.”
Responding to criticism of the conference, Hassan al-Daghim, a spokesman for the event’s preparatory committee, said in an interview that Tuesday’s sessions were just the beginning of what would be an ongoing and inclusive political process that would “involve a wide array of experts.”
So far, neither the preparatory committee nor Mr. al-Shara has offered a detailed plan for continuing the dialogue, for drawing up a new constitution or for creating a system of transitional justice demanded by a public seeking accountability for the crimes of the dictatorship.
Leaders “should not import systems that do not align with the country’s situation” or “implement political dreams that are unsuitable,” Mr. al-Shara said.
“Just as you accept this victory from us, I kindly ask that you also accept the methods used to achieve it,” he added, referring to the rebels’ approach to establishing a government since seizing power.
To many, those comments were seen as a clear message: Even if the next chapter in Syria is inclusive, it will be a far cry from the democratic reform many had long dreamed of.
Conference participants also condemned the Israeli military’s recent incursion into southern Syria. Israel launched new airstrikes on military targets south of Damascus late Tuesday night, according to Israeli officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said in recent days that his country will not allow the presence of Syrian forces in the south of Syria, though it remains unclear how the leadership in Damascus will respond to that demand.
The next major litmus test for the new Syrian authorities will be in the coming days when Mr. al-Shara is expected to form a caretaker government. That government will administer the country in the coming years until Syria can hold elections.
Its makeup — and whether it includes representatives beyond Mr. al-Shara’s loyalists — will offer the next major clues as to how he plans to govern.
The structure of the caretaker government “will send a crucial message,” said Haneen Ahmad, a political and human rights activist in Damascus. “It will reflect the current regime’s willingness to be open and work with all Syrians.”
