Syrian Salvation Government
The Syrian Salvation Government (Arabic: حكومة الإنقاذ السورية, romanized: Ḥukūmat al-ʾInqādh al-Sūriyya) is a de facto alternative government of the Syrian opposition in Idlib Governorate, formed in early November 2017 under the initiative of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel coalition in the context of the Syrian civil war.[3] There followed weeks of conflict between the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) and the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), with reports of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham unilaterally disbanding several SIG-supported local councils across northwestern Syria.[3]
Formation
2 November 2017
General Shura Council
Cabinet
General Shura Council
9 ministries
The SSG is led by a prime minister (currently Ali Keda, since 18 November 2019) who is elected by a legislative body named the General Shura Council, which is headed by a president (currently Mustafa al-Mousa, since 24 April 2020). Officially, HTS has declared its independence from the civilian administration of the Salvation Government, describing the relationship as a "partnership" to provide security to the people of Idlib and offer an alternative to the Ba'athist government. Some analysts have disputed such claims, asserting that HTS maintains control over SSG's security and economic departments and uses SSG as its political front.[4]
The government's education ministry supervises the formal schooling system in Idlib, with more than 550,000 students, 1,800 schools and 12 universities as of 2022. These include roughly 950 schools directly operated by the ministry and employing nearly 12,500 staff members, in addition to the private education system authorized by the SSG. Curriculum has developed the pre-2011 Syrian syllabus in partnership with UNICEF; teaching maths, science, English, history, etc. Anti-religious elements in the national syllabus have been deleted.[5][6]
Background[edit]
Since 2014, large parts of Idlib Governorate, including Idlib City, in Northwest Syria have been largely in the military control of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front which would undergo various internal splits and power-struggles, eventually renouncing AQ ties in 2016 after forming Jabhat Fath al-Sham (JFS). In 2017, JFS merged with Jaysh al-Ahrar and four other rebel groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). HTS has since then engaged in fierce conflict with the Assad regime, and has fought transnational Jihadist groups like Hurras al-Din and Islamic State, in addition to sporadic conflicts with FSA factions of the Syrian opposition. HTS does not recognise the authority of the official opposition leadership, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, or its recognised government, the Syrian Interim Government. However, HTS generally removed itself from the day to day governance of territories it held, leading to a form of dual power in which civil administration was carried out by co-operatively-run local councils.[7] Throughout 2017, HTS had been engaged in particularly intense armed conflict with rival rebel groups - see Idlib Governorate clashes (January–March 2017) and Idlib Governorate clashes (July 2017).
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