Syria's new government must overcome its trust issues to truly command legitimacy

Reflecting on my first visit to Syria shortly after the liberation a year ago – my first in 14 years – to my most recent one, the momentum that followed last year’s victory is clearly but gradually fading. Yet it is just as clear that the elements required to revive that momentum on a broader scale exist throughout the country, waiting for the right conditions to take root.

The list of challenges is long. The chasm between what is needed and what the existing system can offer is widening. Amid this complexity, one thread runs through almost every difficulty Syria now faces: trust – or more precisely, the lack of it.

Rebuilding a country requires rebuilding trust in both directions – between citizens and those who govern. But the first step must come from the top before the society begins to mirror it back.

The world watched in amazement the rapid transformation of the interim leadership from its extremist past. Yet it has retained one of its most deeply ingrained organisational reflexes: a reliance on a narrow trust chain, a culture built on small circles of absolute loyalty, deep suspicion of outsiders and opaque decision-making. This served as a survival strategy for an underground group, but it is a liability for a government that seeks legitimacy. Mistrust is the barrier to inclusion without which a country as diverse as Syria cannot be governed successfully.

Syrian President Ahmed Al Shara waves to the crowd at the gate of Aleppo’s Citadel, on November 29. Al Shara visited the northern city of Aleppo on November 29 as the country marks a year since a lightning Islamist-led offensive that eventually toppled longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad last December. AFP

Leadership naturally prefers to work with people they trust. The real question is: trust based on what? Competence – or loyalty?

Interim President Ahmad Al Shara has cited Singapore as a model to emulate. Yet Singapore’s success did not derive from technocratic skill alone. It emerged from the painstaking construction of trust across society, government as well as national and international markets. Its impartial justice system gave investors confidence; its transparent financial governance built credibility; its public institutions earned the trust of citizens by performing and being held to account.

This moment calls for decisions from Al Shara as bold as those he took a year ago when he launched the battle that brought the end of a very brutal and corrupt regime. He must let light into the black box and place his trust in the Syrian people

Syria is not short of talent.