Kassioun Editorial 1269: Why A National Unity Government?

Among the certain consequences of this war, particularly those that directly concern us, are the following:

First: We should completely forget any possibility of economic support (financial or investment) from the Gulf Arab states. These countries will be preoccupied with addressing their own internal economic and non-economic crises and will not be in a position to provide any real assistance to Syria—not only now but for many years to come.

Second: The existing economic and living crises will deepen and become more dangerous, given the absence and destruction of the state’s social role on the one hand (through increasing liberalization), and the absence and erosion of external support—especially from the Gulf Arab states—on the other.

Third: Social tension will increase as the absence of social justice becomes blatantly visible, particularly through the extravagance of a very small minority living detached from the reality, pain, and suffering of Syrians. The growing social tension will in turn produce additional political and security tensions.

Fourth: Whether “Israel” wins (which is almost a zero-probability scenario) or is defeated, Syria—being a weak spot—will become the primary arena for implementing the “Greater Middle East/Greater Israel” project, or for compensation through further sabotage, expansion, and the pushing of internal conflict, including the reactivation of ISIS and similar groups. Anyone who reads “Israeli” media, follows statements by “Israeli” officials and studies produced by Zionist research centers, in addition to observing the tangible behavior on the ground, will realize that the Zionist entity will seek to strike Syria and the Syrian people regardless of the outcome of the ongoing war with Iran.

Taken together, these coordinates mean that what is threatened today is not only the geopolitical unity of the country, but its very existence. While the medium- and long-term horizon may favor Syria and the Syrian people with the decline of American and Zionist influence, in the short- to medium-term we will face major existential dangers.

In the face of dangers of this magnitude, the primary instrument of defense is the unification of the Syrian people and the closing of the major gaps on which both the Zionist and American actors have relied and continue to rely—including those of a sectarian, ethnic, and socioeconomic nature.

To secure and unify the internal front, every Syrian must feel that the country is truly theirs—that it works for them, their future, and the future of their children, and that it serves their interests rather than the interests of narrow groups of beneficiaries.

The entry point for this is a genuine National Unity Government that plays the role of rescuer and unifier of the Syrian people through a composition that includes the main political forces and the main social forces in the country. The first point in its program should be preparing for a comprehensive General National Conference with full powers, where all unresolved problems and crises are placed on the table so that Syrians can agree on how to address them. The Conference itself should serve as a tool for implementing the Syrian people’s right to determine their own destiny, based on the principle that power lies with the Syrian people, wealth should be distributed fairly, and dignity must be preserved for every Syrian regardless of any secondary affiliation they may have.

Among the priorities of the program of a National Unity Government would be formulating Syria’s foreign relations based on the real facts of the international balance of power and grounded in the true interests of the Syrian people. This would mean shaping balanced relations whose general orientation is toward the rising East with its vast economic capabilities—without severing ties with the West, of course, but ending any illusions of reliance thereon, particularly reliance on Washington. The US has already provided the entire world with an important example of the fate of those who depend on it during the current war, and before that it provided dozens of examples within Syria itself and around the world.

Achieving a National Unity Government that formulates balanced foreign relations on the one hand, and works to unify the Syrian people on the basis of their socioeconomic interests first and foremost—and on the basis of self-reliance before relying on anyone else—represents the only path to confronting the major dangers surrounding the country in all its forces and components. It is a path constrained by short timelines, because the speed at which dangers are approaching is still far greater than the speed at which Syrian political and social forces, in all their positions, are moving.

Why a National Unity Government? Because the first and most fundamental instrument for defending the nation today is a National Unity Government.

(النسخة العربية)