Ahmad Jarba (), born in the city of

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

in 1969, is a

Syrian opposition Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

member and former political prisoner. He is a public opponent of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

and between 6 July 2013 and 11 July 2014 he was President of the

Syrian National Coalition The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, commonly named the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), or the Syrian National Revolutionary Coalition (SNRC) was a political organization founded in Doha, Qatar, in November 2012 ...

, which is the main coalition of opposition groups in the Syrian Civil War, as well as being a member of the

Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...

. His election took place in the second round of voting of a three days meeting organized by the Coalition in order to renew its board. He obtained 55 votes, three more than his rival Mustafa Sabbagh, who was supported by

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. A July 2013 article in

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

commented that "there is little reason to believe he will wield more influence than his predecessor,

Moaz al-Khatib Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib Al-Hasani (, born 1960) is a former president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. He is also a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Early life and career Born in 1960, Khatib ...

." Jarba was re-elected on 5 January 2014, with 65 votes, defeating his only opponent Riyad Farid Hijab by 13 votes. Jarba is the president of the

Syria's Tomorrow Movement The Syria's Tomorrow Movement () is a Syrian opposition party founded in March 2016 in Cairo by Ahmad Jarba, a Syrian National Council member. The party was backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and cooperates with the National Coalition f ...

, a member of the

Shammar The tribe of Shammar () is a tribal Arab Qahtanite confederation, descended from the Tayy, which migrated into the northern Arabian Peninsula from Yemen in the second century. It is the largest branch of the Tayy, and one of the largest and mos ...

tribe. On 13 September Ahmad Jarba met with the leader of the

Movement for a Democratic Society The Movement for a Democratic Society (, TEV-DEM; ; ) is a left-wing umbrella organization in northern Syria founded on 16 January 2011 with the goal of organizing Syrian society under a democratic confederalist system. TEV-DEM is currently chai ...

, representing the de facto autonomous administration of the Federation of Northern Syria - Rojava, in order to form an agreement to participate in the governing of northeastern Syria. They issued a joint statement that "the monist powers insisting on one party, one flag and one nation are doomed to fail, and peoples are trying to realize their dreams for a democratic, pluralist and united Syria." By extension his forces, the al-Nukhbat Brigade, also joined the

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

References

1969 births American University of Beirut alumni Living people People from Qamishli Syrian National Council members Syrian Sunni Muslims National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces members {{Syria opposition-stub