Kassioun Editorial 1214: “National Dialogue Conference” or/and “General National Conference”?!

Before talking about the composition of the Preparatory Committee, it should be noted that what is being prepared is a “National Dialogue Conference” that will result – as the spokesperson for the Preparatory Committee stated – in “recommendations” and not decisions.

That is, we are before a dialogue conference of a consultative nature. Naturally, any dialogue among Syrians is a commendable and desirable thing, but it is not the goal. What was and still is required is a general national conference, in which the various political and social currents in Syria are represented, taking into account Syrian diversity, and which is its own master and decision-maker in Syrian affairs, and a means of enforcing the right of the Syrian people to self-determination. That is, the desired general national conference should be closer to a “constituent assembly” that is authorized to lay the foundation for drafting a permanent constitution, and for laws on elections, political parties, and the media, leading to supervising free and fair elections at all levels, which would be the end point of the transitional phase.

The methodological distinction between the “National Dialogue Conference” that the committee formed by the Syrian presidency is preparing for, on the one hand, and the “General National Conference” on the other hand, is a matter of utmost importance in determining the stage we have reached, and in determining the tasks and subsequent stages.

This methodological distinction does not diminish – as we mentioned – the importance of any dialogue among Syrians, but rather positions it properly and frames its tasks more clearly.

In this sense, the experience of the National Dialogue Conference is not entirely new. The consultative meeting chaired by Mr. Farouk al-Sharaa in July 2011 was also a consultative meeting, which issued a number of recommendations that, if implemented, would have changed the tragic path the country took. However, Assad’s intransigence and his disregard for the vast majority of recommendations led the country towards disaster. The July 2011 consultative meeting’s lack of inclusivity and the absence of various forces and movements therefrom contributed to weakening it and its results, which were supposed to establish a general national conference that is still a national entitlement awaiting implementation and will remain on the agenda after the next “National Dialogue Conference” is held.

As for the composition of the Preparatory Committee, it did not express enough breadth and comprehensiveness of political and social representation, so as to establish a starting point for comprehensive and broadly representative outcomes. It is understood that the number of members of the Preparatory Committee should be limited and logical, but it was possible, within the same number, to achieve broader and more comprehensive representation in the political and social sense, which is something that can still be corrected through the work of the Committee with its same composition, or by expanding it.

The second issue, which is no less important than the composition of the Committee, is the work agenda, about which the broadest public Syrian dialogue should be launched, not only with the Committee alone, but also among Syrians, all Syrians, in all parts of Syria and abroad.

Finally, the success or failure of the “National Dialogue Conference” will not be determined only by the recommendations that will result therefrom, but will be determined by four things together:

First: The breadth and comprehensiveness of the representation.

Second: The type and nature of the recommendations that will result therefrom.

Third: The authorities’ commitment to adopting and implementing the recommendations.

Fourth: Dealing with this conference as a preliminary step for the General National Conference, which has the final decision regarding the drafting of the permanent constitution, the laws on elections, political parties, and media, and supervision of elections.

(النسخة العربية)