The current authorities, represented by Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, raised the slogan “War on Poverty” a few days ago. This is a justified and ambitious slogan, one that resonates with the desires of more than 90% of Syrians who have lived below the poverty line for years.
The experiences of Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and others teach us that the mere collapse of a ruling authority does not necessarily mean the fall of the ruling regime in its socioeconomic dimension – that is, the manner of distributing wealth and dealing with the country, its economy, and the rights of its people, whether in the national, democratic, or social sense. Those experiences also teach us that the collapse of a tyrannical and plundering regime cannot turn into a true and complete victory for the oppressed and plundered people unless it is complemented by building of a radically different new system – one that is socioeconomically just, democratic, and patriotic. One that preserves the sovereignty and wealth of its country, and through which the people can govern themselves.
With the end of the first quarter of 2023, and since before the beginning of the month of Ramadan, Syrians have directly witnessed significant increases in the prices of various necessary basic commodities. The average cost of living for a Syrian family of 5 has increased according to Kassioun index for the costs of living to jump to more than 5.6 million Syrian pounds (the minimum has reached 3,546,083 Syrian pounds). All this is happening while the minimum of wages (92,970 Syrian pounds, i.e., less than $13 a month) is still very meager and insufficient to actually cover anything from the basics of life.
It has now been three weeks since the earthquake catastrophe. While the space the disaster occupies in the media and politically is gradually receding, the reality reveals every day new depths of the disaster, as well as tremendous pain and suffering that is crushing the bones of (survivors), if it is correct to describe those who were not killed by the earthquake as survivors.
In many past articles we have discussed the saying the People’s Will Party has adopted since nearly 2005 (at the time the party was the National Committee for the Unity of the Syrian Communists), that about illusory dualisms. Some of the clearer examples of that are: opponent v. loyalist, secular v. religious, in addition to sectarian, national, and other dualities.
The government has raised the prices of bread and medicines, and raised the pricing of imports: oils, poultry feed, powdered milk, and sugar. This was something expected and it will continue, as the government is managing the affairs of the most powerful: importers; as a vital area for the powers of influence and intrusion, and industrialists at a lower level; as they still have some significance. However, there are 15 million helpless human beings left outside of the government’s considerations. After all, the government rules in favour of the system, and the system only sees society according to how much money and power it has.
On May 19, Law No.18 of 2021 called “the New Investment Law” was issued, which is the third “general” legislation for investment after Law No.10 of 1991, and Decree No.8 of 2007.
Ten years and our crisis is still ongoing, and the deterioration of the value of the Syrian pound that we see in the increase of the level of prices is its most prominent economic epitome, as it reflects the overall economic, social and political deterioration as well. This insane high rocketing in prices means that poverty is practically reaching more than 85% of Syrians, and also hunger reaching nearly two-thirds of Syrians across the country. It is also an expression of mega-rich people's protection of their wealth through their commodities that preserve their value, most notably: the dollar and gold.
The Energy crisis is the epitome of all current crises, as it practically reflects the crisis of the Syrian pound and the inability of the funds available in the national currency to secure the needs of importing the mainstay of production, which is represented in oil. It also reflects the crisis of the decline in the economic and social role of the state apparatus and its inability to secure the basics, in addition to the state of production paralysis affecting the country. The worst, is that all the current indications show that the energy crisis cannot be seriously solved with such resources and such performance.
When the number 3500 billion SYP is mentioned in the budget, we are talking about 40% of total government expenditure for 2021. It’s the most important expenditure bloc in the budget, which is a normal thing because it reflects the significance of the energy sector and securing essential food at least, i.e., it is the sum that expresses the continuance of securing the essentials for living, as the confusion in dealing with subsidies, rethinking about them, and trying to reduce them, is a major part of the crisis of the decline in the means of life support inside the country.
