- Editorials
- Posted
Kassioun Editorial 1076: Syria, in a Race Against Time
The suffocating and deadly crises that the Syrians are experiencing are deepening and multiplying on a daily basis. Starting with the wage crisis, the purchasing value of which has become trivial compared to the the minimum standard of living needs, not to mention the disastrous conditions of electricity, production, fuel, bread, water, education, and health. To top it all, there is also the continuing bulldozing and uprooting of Syrians from their land due to the list of these crises that goes on and on to include all aspects of life, almost without any exceptions.
If we look at the development of these crises over the past ten years, and based on the numbers, the clear conclusion is that these crises are not only continuous, but are rapidly intensifying, as if the country is in a state of free fall, the speed of which increases with every additional fraction of a second. Even worse, free fall has a terminal velocity, while the acceleration of the fall in Syria increases as time passes.
One of the figures that best expresses the scale of the disaster is the huge difference between the minimum wage (93,000 SYP) and the minimum standard of living (1,787,000 SYP), according to figures from last April. Today’s figures would yield much worse results. That is, the minimum monthly wage constitutes only 5% of the minimum standard of living, i.e., for a family of 5 people living at the minimum, it is merely enough for a day and a half.
If we look at the other figures, the situation is not that much better. Starting with the steady rise in the delivery period of the propane tank for daily use, which has reached as high as 100 days, and the rise in its price; the reduction in the quantity and quality of bread and the difficulty of accessing it; and the reduction in fuel allocations for public transportation, as well as the reduction in the share of subsidized diesel used for home heating. The list goes on with other tragedies falling on the heads of Syrians daily.
The end of the phase of military operations in mid-2019 did not put an end to the flow of crises. Rather, their acceleration has taken a sharp upturn since then. If someone were to try to explain the matter with the Caesar sanctions, then that is undoubtedly part of the problem, but it is not the entire problem. The problem lies in the continuation of the liberal policies themselves, but with a more brutal phase with the processes of lifting subsidies, the undeclared processes of conforming to the prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and with the continuation of deceitful statements about turning East. All of this, in parallel with economically continuing to depend on the dollar and the Western system, without any real political will to take advantage of the new international conditions.
Above all, the tribulation of the de facto partition continues, and with it the implosion possibilities that are hiding around every corner of the country. This is in addition to the continuation of the process of bulldozing Syrians from their land as a result of all the aforementioned factors.
The real “conspiracy” is not only in military operations, but more importantly in the persistence, deepening, and acceleration of these crises, which can quickly bring the country to the point of no return.
The only cure to ending all these negative phenomena is a comprehensive political solution on the basis of UNSC Resolution 2254. This means that today, the tangible manifestation of the “conspiracy” is to disrupt the political solution, whether it is motivated by the selfish and narrow interests of the tyrants and war lords, or by pushing and intersecting with the interests of the historical enemies of Syria, the Westerners in general, and the Zionists in particular.
Today, the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2254 is the cure, and no one can calculate the time between the country and its people, and the point of no return. Therefore, urging steps towards a solution, with what it requires of neutralizing the extremists, has become a paramount patriotic necessity, which the new international condition allows the achievement thereof, away from the West, its hypocrisy, its sabotage, and its agents from the various sides.
