Did the Syrian Ba’athist regime suddenly wake up to what may seem to them a bitter reality? Did they finally accept that reality? Did they accept that reality and are trying to avoid it? Are their recent actions just a response to events and an attempt to maneuver past what seems to them obstacles that face their total domination of all aspects of life in Syria? Those are all questions that one might think about when considering the current events that are taking place in Syria.
It is very hard to believe that the Syrian regime has finally realized that there is no hope of continuing with their current position in regards to protests that has now been going on for more than 3 months. That change that we are witnessing whether it was from the stance of the government media that has finally accepted that there is an opposition to the regime, to the opposition conference that was allowed to take place suddenly, raises a lot of confusion to those that are observing the events in Syria.
For some people that have followed the way the regime has dealt with different situations in the past may very well know that the regime doesn’t give up easily and is very stubborn. The Syrian regime never gives up until it has exhausted all options that help in maintaining the status quo. When there are different elements in the equation the regime always resorted to bargaining its way out of certain situations when solutions of maintaining the status quo have been exhausted.
But the current situation is very different. This is no longer pressure exerted by external elements, it is internal. It is not pressures that they can bargain with, those are pressures in the form of demands by the people that this regime is ruling, demands that they have to obey and that is the only option the regime has. Knowing that, the regime resulted to violence hoping that fear will subjugate the people back to their will. After three months of fear mongering and the deaths of more than 1300 civilians and more than 300 government security and military personnel with growing pressures from what the regime calls its closest allies, it seems that the regime is taking a different road. Whether that road is a road by which the regime gives up just enough of its control of all aspects of life in Syria to relieve and normalize the situation or whether it is a true intention by the regime to finally transform government in Syria into a more plural and representative system is still to be seen.
And that brings me back to the opposition conference that took place yesterday in Damascus. Although the final statement was actually according to expectations of most people that oppose the regime and its stance towards the uprising in Syria, some may wonder what was the real purpose of this conference. Was it allowed to take place in order to place the opposition members outside Syria on the fringe and to create some sort of divide between the opposition that is outside Syria and those that are inside? I got an article from a friend which described how an agreement was reached between the regime and some opposition members that would allow them to form political parties and which will give them Ministerial roles but at the same time would keep the Ba'ath party as the main party in Syria and leader of society as stated in the constitution. This would be similar to what Yemen had. Opposition parties that are hopeless and can't challenge the leading party or create any change.
But then again, this may actually be a genuine attempt to changing the system. A space given by the regime to allow opposition members to meet and make clear their aims prior to implementing new laws that allow formation of political parties in Syria as well as amending the 8th article of the constitution and removing the Ba'ath party as the leader of state and society in Syria. We need to see what happens next in order to see how genuine these current events are.
Anyways, since the last speech of the Syrian president, having expressed my hopes that the president will do the right thing, I have been disappointed. And right now, I have very little hope that the regime is truly taking a road of true reform to a more representative state for the Syrian people. Maybe now that I have very low expectations I won’t be too disappointed when things clear up and we find out that this was all just another attempt at keeping the status quo.
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Sunday 19 June 2011
Tips for the Pres on his next speech
Tomorrow the head of the Syrian regime will give a speech. These are the top 5 things Bashar Assad should and shouldn't mention in his speech.
Five Things Bashar Shouldn’t mention in tomorrow’s planned speech:
1) Terrorists, armed gangs that have terrified and murdered the people
2) Key terms such as salafists, infiltrators (mundaseen), extremists etc
3) Global, nay! Universal conspiracy theory against Syria and how the regime has defeated that conspiracy.
4) Denying the wrong doing of the regime during the uprising
5) Planning more useless reforms that won’t happen and setting up new committees that won’t do anything (the head of the committee will usually come up and say the people are not ready for such reforms).
Five Things he should do/mention:
1) Apologize and accept responsibility for everything that has happened in the past few months and pay respect to all those that have been murdered.
2) Withdraw the military from the entire country and end the military’s role in this crisis.
3) Start a constitutional reform and end the Baath control of the country as well as releasing all political prisoners and those that have been abducted during the uprising.
4) Set date for early and free presidential election/plan for new government
5) Allow Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan back in to the country and allow foreign and independent media into the country.
I just want to make two further points:
- The only hope I think for this crisis to end with the least damage and through a smooth transition to a more representative system of the Syrian people is when this regime does the above. The crisis in Syria is very similar to that in Yemen, there are still those that support the president and there are those that don't which will make this crisis go on for a much longer period. Lets hope that the regime in Syria and that Bashar Assad has more sense and is more patriotic than Abdullah Saleh of Yemen and is able to see that his stay in power will only result in further deterioration of the situation in Syria especially if the regime keeps on carrying out their security measures against the protesters. I think I still have some faith that Bashar will do the right thing tomorrow. I hope he does for the sake of this country.
- In the free Syria that we all envision we should all respect the opinions of everyone even those that still stand with the current regime. Even though we call for the end of the regime and the end of the reign of the Ba'ath party in Syria, that doesn't mean their presence in the political spectrum in Syria should be erased.
Five Things Bashar Shouldn’t mention in tomorrow’s planned speech:
1) Terrorists, armed gangs that have terrified and murdered the people
2) Key terms such as salafists, infiltrators (mundaseen), extremists etc
3) Global, nay! Universal conspiracy theory against Syria and how the regime has defeated that conspiracy.
4) Denying the wrong doing of the regime during the uprising
5) Planning more useless reforms that won’t happen and setting up new committees that won’t do anything (the head of the committee will usually come up and say the people are not ready for such reforms).
Five Things he should do/mention:
1) Apologize and accept responsibility for everything that has happened in the past few months and pay respect to all those that have been murdered.
2) Withdraw the military from the entire country and end the military’s role in this crisis.
3) Start a constitutional reform and end the Baath control of the country as well as releasing all political prisoners and those that have been abducted during the uprising.
4) Set date for early and free presidential election/plan for new government
5) Allow Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan back in to the country and allow foreign and independent media into the country.
I just want to make two further points:
- The only hope I think for this crisis to end with the least damage and through a smooth transition to a more representative system of the Syrian people is when this regime does the above. The crisis in Syria is very similar to that in Yemen, there are still those that support the president and there are those that don't which will make this crisis go on for a much longer period. Lets hope that the regime in Syria and that Bashar Assad has more sense and is more patriotic than Abdullah Saleh of Yemen and is able to see that his stay in power will only result in further deterioration of the situation in Syria especially if the regime keeps on carrying out their security measures against the protesters. I think I still have some faith that Bashar will do the right thing tomorrow. I hope he does for the sake of this country.
- In the free Syria that we all envision we should all respect the opinions of everyone even those that still stand with the current regime. Even though we call for the end of the regime and the end of the reign of the Ba'ath party in Syria, that doesn't mean their presence in the political spectrum in Syria should be erased.
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