Kassioun Editorial 1041: The Lesson of the Sixth Round

Extremists on both sides are in agreement when it comes to the essence of dealing with the zero-sum results of the round. In addition to continuing in the process of sparring about who is responsible, something that Syrians are tired of, the regime side argues that the Committee should continue within the same coordinates, indefinitely. That is, it continues to treat it as a “political game”. The extremists from the opposition side have begun posting the obituaries of the Committee and calling for withdrawal therefrom, and as usual without offering an alternative except “asking the international community to apply pressure”.

If over the last four year, since the idea of its establishment started at the Sochi Conference and then with its formation and meetings, the Constitutional Committee has played the role of the intensive care unit, in which the political process has been placed in order to prevent its death, this role can no longer continue within the same coordinates, because the patient is in danger of dying in the ICU itself. The patient here is not only the political process, but Syria, which is experiencing a de facto division and a major catastrophe by all standards and in all its parts. In Syria, with each sunrise of a new day, the situation is harsher, more threatening, and more dangerous, despite all the meaningless ranting attempts by those who dominate in the various parts of Syria.

The results of this round confirm what we have said repeatedly even before the formation of the Committee. If it was clear to us that the two extremist sides have since the beginning been simulating motion, and not an actual motion, the sound of the explosion of the last round –after all the efforts made to make it work – could be heard everywhere, and has resolved any previous speculations, expectations, or bets. It has also put on the implementation table the issue of changing the coordinates of the work of the Committee, not just the “methodology” of its work.

The new coordinates required to end the motion stimulation state, and move to actual motion towards a political solution, are as follows:

First: Ascertain the status of the Constitutional Committee as part of the integrated solution package provided for by UNSC Resolution 2254, primarily the question of consensus regarding the transitional governing body in its three dimensions: its definition, its authorities and their source, and people in it.

Second: With clear Western intentions to prolong the crisis in parallel with intensive work on what the West calls “regime behavior change”, which means neither a “victory” nor “rehabilitation”, as some extremists claim. It precisely means working to uproot Syria from its historical anti-Zionist position, and furthermore it means uprooting it while maintaining the de facto division. With these actions and clear intentions, the Astana tripartite must also elevate its work toward directly helping Syrians to implement UNSC Resolution 2254 and get China’s help in overcoming Western blackmail relating to sanctions and reconstruction, once and for all.

Third: As for the Committee itself, its internal coordinates need three changes: 1. modifying the composition to include Syrians who are excluded; 2. transferring the Committee’s work to Damascus with the necessary guarantees from the United Nations; 3. broadcasting the work of the Committee publicly.

The failure of the last round should be a lesson and a motivation, for Syrians first, and for the international and regional sides that have a real interest in the solution. If this lesson is understood and worked on, then that would be a very important result of the sixth round, something the extremists do not want.

(Arabic version)