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Syria opposition gets major boost with
council creation
21.9.2011
By Hugo Dixon - Reuters
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September 21, 2011
LONDON, — One of the most important things
for Arab revolutionaries aiming to bring down
authoritarian regimes is achieving unity within
their own ranks. Unity is valuable for developing
and executing a strategy for toppling a
dictatorship, as well as for providing a single
interlocutor with the international community. By
contrast, political, ethnic and religious divisions
can be exploited by a regime that is clinging to
power.
After several false starts, the Syrian opposition to
Bashar al-Assad took a big step towards unity in
Istanbul last week, forming the Syrian National
Council (SNC). |
The Antalya Syrian opposition conference. Photo AFP |
It aims to represent the
revolution and topple the regime. It was
deliberately not called a transitional council
because of the echoes with Libya's Transitional
Council. If Assad falls, the idea is that the
council's role will come to an end rather than
becoming a transitional government, says Bassma
Kodmani, its spokesperson.
Full unity has not yet been achieved: some
opposition activists, including the man originally
touted as its president, have so far stayed out of
the SNC.
But, for the first time since the protests started
six months ago, provoking a bloody crackdown by the
regime, it looks like the Syrian revolution has
something which could turn into a common front.
The rebel caucus received a huge boost with the
backing last night of the LCC, the grassroots
activist network that has powered the rolling
demonstrations across Syria over the past six
months.
"We support the SNC out of our commitment to unify
the opposition and to eliminate the opposition's
fragmentation," the LCC said in a statement. In
addition, our support is in response to the Youth
Movement, which has expressed its desire for such an
overarching political entity."
It also called on the leadership of the Damascus
Declaration for National Democratic Change, the
Kurdish leadership, and all other political and
revolutionary entities to support the SNC
initiative.
"Our current situation is extraordinary and we have
a national responsibility to overcome the obstacles
created by differences in vision and political
leanings, and to form a council that represents all
segments of society and political factions, and
which truly reflects the national voice of the
Revolution to topple the Syrian regime and build the
future of Syria."
The SNC believes it will have legitimacy to speak
and act on behalf of the revolution because of the
pains-taking process it went through to choose its
140 members, says Ausama Monajed, an activist
outside the country who is playing a leading role in
the council's international relations and public
relations.
The idea was to get a council which was
representative of different religions, ethnic
groups, regions and political persuasions - as well
as getting people who had a history of opposing
Assad.
The criteria for selection and the ultimate names
were chosen by a committee of 10-20 people, says
Monajed. This committee itself included people from
diverse backgrounds: Abdelbasit Sida, a Kurd;
Abdulrahman Al-Haj, an independent centrist; Yaser
Tabbara, a liberal; Obaida Nahhas, an Islamist; and
Kodmani, a leftist.
The committee determined various quotas. One was
that 60 percent of the membership was to be for
people inside the country and 40 percent outside.
Another that 52 percent should be grassroots
activists, with the rest more traditional
opposition. Yet another was that 28-29 percent
should be the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic
groups.
Making Syria's minorities feel included was a
particular goal. "Minorities were over-represented
to give them a guarantee that their rights and
interests would be protected," says Monajed. So the
Kurds will get 12-15 percent of the SNC's members.
Alawites, the offshoot Shi'ite sect from which Assad
comes, and Christians will also be represented. Some
people in these groups have been wary of the
revolution, fearing that they could be persecuted if
Assad falls.
So far, the names of only 71 of the council's
members have been revealed. There are two reasons.
First, some do not want to be disclosed because they
are afraid of reprisals from the regime. Second,
some groups -- mainly Kurds, Islamists and the
traditional opposition -- haven't filled their
quotas yet leaving 20-25 posts empty.
This has had the consequence that the SNC looks
half-formed. Only one Alawite name has been
revealed, Wajdi Mostafa. The Council has also not
been able to gather all the key opposition figures
under its umbrella. Several of its members had
pleaded with Burhan Ghalioun,www.ekurd.neta
French-based professor, to be their leader but he
has so far not joined. Meanwhile, another group of
activists met in Damascus last weekend with the aim
of forming a National Assembly.
"It takes a bit of time but we are coming together,"
says Kodmani. "Discussions are still under way with
many institutions."
Monajed insists that the council has growing
legitimacy: "There is no more time to waste, this is
the real deal. We must all rally around it." He says
there have been demonstrations in Syria in favour of
the council and that the secretariat to the Damascus
Declaration, which made a seminal call for an end to
authoritarian rule in 2005, was on the point of
endorsing it.
The SNC has also been making some progress in
getting international recognition. The United
States, France and Britain have all welcomed its
creation, though they have not yet recognized it as
the legitimate voice of the Syrian opposition.
Monajed will be in New York later this week with a
delegation to coincide with the United Nations
General Assembly, aiming to shore up the council's
support from foreign governments.
After that, the council is hoping to have its first
general meeting on Sept. 24, ideally in Cairo. But,
if they can't get the approval of the Egyptian
government, they may need to meet again in Istanbul,
says Monajed. The general meeting will probably
agree to create an executive committee and a
president. But so far nobody has put his or her name
forward.
Once the council has organized itself, it will then
have to decide how best to wage the struggle against
Assad. It has already set out certain basic
principles -- including rejecting calls for ethnic
strife and foreign intervention, while safeguarding
the non-violent character of the revolution. But
there is still a long way to go before determining
what strategy to pursue to "knock down the pillars
of the regime", Monajed admits. They are trying to
get members of the grassroots coordinating
committees together to discuss, develop and agree
such a strategy.
One issue that needs to be thrashed out is what sort
of help to ask for from abroad. Although the council
is against Libyan-style NATO bombing, Kodmani says
it "hears the street, which is desperate" and wants
international protection of civilians. She says they
are looking at other options short of military
intervention. Another issue is how the SNC will
relate to the Free Syrian Army, a small group of
former Syrian soldiers which has defected. All
Monajed would say was that there was a channel for
discussions but the type of relationship had yet to
be determined.
Even if the SNC sorts all this out, it could have a
long battle on its hands -- not least because the
Assad regime will not be standing still but will be
seeking to advance its own goal of staying in power.
That said, if the Syrian revolution does succeed,
the formation of the SNC may turn out to have been
an important milestone.
Hugo Dixon is a columnist and editor of Reuters
Breakingviews. The opinions expressed are his own
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