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The only remnant of Bashar Al Assad’s regime in the Syrian post office headquarters in Damascus is a black rectangle on the wall – the mark left by a portrait of the former president that hung there for years.
Hayan Maksoud, director of the postal service, removed the picture after the rebels took over the country, ending five decades of the Assad dynasty's autocratic rule in a lightning offensive.
“No one should be seen as a god,” Mr Maksoud said, gesturing at the freshly emptied walls. Less than 48 hours after the Assad regime’s fall, post office employees were back at their desks. No one had left their jobs.
“We had to return to work as soon as possible. There was one day of chaos – we thought it might last weeks, but that was it,” Mr Maksoud told The National.
Following the appointment of a four-month transitional government by rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a former affiliate of Al Qaeda, and its allies, public servants expect the new political power to reform notoriously corrupt and bloated state institutions. They are torn between hope and fear of the unknown.
“We hope this will proceed like a peaceful transition,” Mr Maksoud said.
Access to the public administration is surprisingly easy. At the post office entrance, employees are, for the first time, unafraid to speak openly. They warmly welcome foreign journalists without further questions. “This would never have been possible before. You’d have needed 50 authorisations,” one employee said with a smile.
Inside, the offices are filled with employees chatting and chain-smoking, offering an unexpected appearance of normality in a country where a regime has just been overthrown. The atmosphere is a mix of joy, hope and disbelief.
Mr Maksoud sees this as a chance to reform the highly bureaucratic and centralised system. “We used to need permission from parliament just to buy one scooter,” he explained. “Even as a general director, I couldn’t make decisions regarding the purchase of motorcycles, vehicles, or even fuel. These basic needs were hard to secure.
“Now we are optimistic that the postal institution will receive attention through decisions that support and give it some autonomy.”
Yet, so much needs to be done, and logistical challenges lie ahead. Technically, it is now possible to send a letter from Damascus to Idlib, but would the network be ready? HTS has not visited the office yet. “It’s only been two days. We need to wait and see,” said Mr Maksoud.
At the Central Bank of Syria, employees displayed an unprecedented level of openness to the media. The bank reopened on Tuesday and on Wednesday, staff were opening the vaults in front of cameras. “No more fear or restrictions,” said Manhal Ganm, the director of economic research at the bank. He spoke to The National from his office, which the rebels had stormed on Sunday.
The flag holder to his right was empty, his laptop had been stolen and the door was broken. But the brief chaos that engulfed Damascus after the rebels seized it was over. Mr Ganm said the bank’s leadership had met the new government and “so far, the signs have been encouraging”.
He said he was hopeful that the transition would be smooth, with a priority on lifting international sanctions. “Sanctions killed the economy, plunging people into poverty. We need to lift them. We don’t even have access to the Swift [international clearing] system,” he added.
Syria has been suffering from a severe economic crisis characterised by a currency collapse and hyperinflation, plunging 90 per cent of the population below the poverty line.
Another welcome reform would be the bank’s independence from political power. “There should be co-ordination between the two, [but] until now, the political power has been dictating all central bank’s decisions,” said Mr Ganm,
He said there was hope that with the right government, which must be diverse and protect minorities, Syria could become “like a European country”.
“But there are also fears of what might happen,” he added. Not all bank employees returned to work that day, he said. Some from the Alawite minority, which Mr Al Assad belonged to, stayed home, not setting foot outside their houses for fear of reprisals.
