Kassioun Editorial 1236: The General National Conference: Its Essence, Nature, and Mission

The idea of the “General National Conference” is, in essence, to secure a unified and common national platform through which Syrians can exercise their right to self-determination. It can also enable them to raise all outstanding and accumulated problems and lay the foundations for resolving them through consensus, dialogue, and mutual understanding, as free citizens equal in rights and duties.

In this sense, the General National Conference is a platform that transcends a mere formal, brief, and powerless “national dialogue conference” formed from above, as has happened in the past. The General National Conference serves as a salvation conference for the country and its national unity. At the same time, it serves as a constituent assembly that will produce a comprehensive national unity government and a committee to draft a permanent constitution for the country. It will also lay the groundwork for free and fair elections at all levels, which will serve as the final stage in the transition of a unified Syria toward safety.

For the General National Conference to be able to accomplish these major tasks, it must be designed correctly and precisely. This process begins with how its preparatory committee is formed, which must break with the method of forming the previous National Dialogue Committee, which was largely arbitrary, exclusive, and superficial, and which ultimately had negative repercussions for the conference itself and its outcomes.

The Preparatory Committee for the General National Conference must include a reasonable number of influential, respected, wise, and credible figures capable of representing the various major political and social currents in the country. This committee must be able, through consensus among itself and with the various political currents and social groups in the country, to ensure the broadest and most comprehensive representation possible, thus granting the Conference the confidence of the Syrian people.

The country’s security and economic crises do not have a security-based solution. Security solutions, previously and today, have proven their failure and have even proven to exacerbate crises, detonate them, and make them more dangerous. There is no economic solution to the crises. Neither the sanctions have been actually lifted, nor will the foreign promises and investments being discussed become reality as long as the security situation remains dangerous and tense. They will remain mere ink on paper and images on television.

The true solution to the accumulated crises is, in essence, a political solution based first and foremost on uniting Syrians. Through their unification, the major gaps through which various forms of foreign interference can penetrate are closed. The General National Conference and the political solution, in essence, mean placing complete trust in the Syrian people and relying on them to determine their own destiny. Those who rely on and are empowered by the Syrian people—all of them, not just one portion over another—will inevitably reach safety.

(النسخة العربية)