Can Syria break free and embrace democracy?

Syria's Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Monday it would take between four and five years to hold presidential elections, the first time he has laid out a timeline for the vote since he was named transitional president last week.

Sharaa, who headed the Islamist rebel group that led a lightning offensive that toppled autocratic President Bashar al-Assad in early December, was declared transitional president on Jan. 30.

"I estimate that the period will be between four to five years until elections because there is a need for a vast infrastructure, and this infrastructure needs to be re-established and establishing it needs time," Sharaa told Syria TV in an interview aired on Monday.

He said Syrian authorities would need to consolidate data on the country's population to update its electoral data, adding: "Without this matter, any elections held will be doubted."

Sharaa said Syria would apply international norms on transitional periods, including how they apply to a president during that time. Based on those norms, he said, Syria would "ultimately go to an elected presidency and an elected authority."

He did not specify which international norms he had reviewed to determine the timeline he set out.

When Sharaa was declared transitional president, he was also empowered to form a temporary legislative council for a transitional period and the Syrian constitution was suspended.

He has pledged to embark on a political transition including a national conference to produce an inclusive government.

Sharaa said that a preparatory committee would be formed to hold consultations across Syria.

"Then, it will invite those we think represent the Syrian people in general," he said.

The conference will discuss "all the important problems in Syria" and produce a final statement that would form the basis of a "constitutional declaration," he said.

Sharaa had said in December that drafting a new constitution could take up to three years.