Kassioun Editorial 1249: The Solution Is Clear: Power to the People, By the People, And for the People

Any act or statement — previously or now — that seeks to divide Syrians on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, sect, or on the basis of “majority” and “minorities”, whatever the cover behind which it tries to hide, serves the interests of the plunderers; in the interest of the major thieves who come from various ethnicities, religions, and sects, and against the interest of the broad, plundered Syrian people who belong to all ethnicities, religions, and sects.

The queues of Syrians at bakeries and hospitals do not distinguish between one sect and another, or one religion and another. The multitudes of Syrians who experience hardship every day just to scrape together food for themselves and their children, who struggle to educate, treat, and clothe their children (if they can), are not of one sect rather than another, or one religion rather than another, or one ethnicity rather than another. They are the vast, crushed majority that is what we politically call “the Syrian people”.

The great injustice in Syria, which has persisted for decades, is the injustice suffered by 90% of Syrians who belong to all ethnicities, religions, and sects. Anyone who trades in the grievance of one group over another only entrenches — whether consciously or ignorantly — that injustice, and sides with the plunderers and thieves against the general Syrian people.

All power — all of it — must belong to the Syrian people, and all wealth — all of it — as well; only then can the homeland be dignified and honorable: that power be “to the people, by the people, and for the people”, which is what true democracy means. This is achieved through political participation, not through any form of sectarian, ethnic, or religious quota-sharing, whether formal or actual, whether in a People’s Assembly, a government, or any other institution.

When people are struck by calamities, they resort to gathering and uniting to protect themselves and defend their interests. If inclusive national political action is marginalized, political participation is suppressed, and political activity is constrained, what remains is people assembling along ethnic, religious, sectarian, and tribal lines — and that is extremely dangerous. It not only prevents people from obtaining their rights and gives the plunderers additional power over them in the name of religion, nationality, or sect; it also destroys civil peace, puts the country on the road to fragmentation and division, throws open wide the doors to further harmful and destructive external interventions, and kills any possibility of economic solutions or economic growth.

The only gateway to confronting major dangers facing the country and its people is to unify Syrians, first and foremost and above everything else, by uniting the plundered and impoverished 90% and who, as we have repeatedly said, belong to all ethnicities, religions, and sects. To carry out this task, genuine political participation is essential, and its only path is the General National Conference and the implementation of the substance of UNSC Resolution 2254 — that is, its roadmap which includes creating a transitional governing body and a permanent constitution leading to elections. All of this must be pursued with the awareness that the timeframes are not open-ended but narrow and limited, and unless work on them begins, they will lose their ability to save the country and its people.

(النسخة العربية)