Firas Qassas: Syria adopts authoritarian path threatening national unity

Qassas warned that exclusion and disregard are dragging Syria back into the past, keeping it trapped in a cycle of violence, sectarianism, racism, and marginalization.

“What has been happening since the new regime came to power is not merely a neglect of pluralism; it is a conscious, systematic campaign against it,” Qassas said.

 The approaches taken toward public affairs, he argued, only generate “mobile violence” and foster a path that erodes shared national identity among Syria’s diverse communities — leading toward “terrifying outcomes” that could make it impossible for them to remain in a single state. Worse still, he warned, the country risks “comprehensive violence and total ruin.”

Transitional Government tied to every political deadlock

On the regime’s role in obstructing a political settlement, Qassas said the transitional government is linked to all of Syria’s current deadlocks, not just the political impasse.

He argued that the new leadership still suffers from a “structural defect” that prevents it from practicing politics in the modern sense. Instead, it treats politics in a “medieval” way — as the art of governance through coercion and subjugation — relying on personal loyalty to a single figure seen as savior and exception, and on pragmatism rooted in intrigue, shifting alliances, and deception.

Failure to recognize participatory politics

Qassas added that the new regime does not understand politics as a participatory process grounded in a democratic constitution with human rights at its core. It neither views nor practices politics as a public matter open to all and deriving legitimacy from society’s free will and choices, rather than from imposing control.

On the idea of forming an inclusive government, Qassas said the solution lies in going beyond that. He noted that the roots of the crisis have not been fully deconstructed or analyzed, even in discussions about the state’s future after the fall of the former authoritarian regime.

“The answer is not simply to form a government representing all components,” he said. “It is to restructure state institutions away from the ideological and factional bias of the military operations room that overthrew the criminal, repressive regime.”

Army and security forces do not represent the state or society

“The army and security forces do not represent society in all its diversity,” Qassas said. “Their loyalty is to the regime-state, just as the loyalty of the previous army and security apparatus was to Assad the father and son, not to the state or the people.

“So what does it mean to form an inclusive government if the levers of power and the legitimate means of force remain entirely in the hands of the current authorities? And what does a modern constitution with democratic provisions mean when the current structure of the army and security forces remains unchanged? In reality, such a government or constitution would be meaningless without military structures capable of ensuring their actual sovereignty and independence from domination.”

Qassas described the current situation in Syria as highly complex, saying that a democratic future requires a complete redefinition of the political transition process. He argued that the structure of the current regime — by all indications — is resistant to accepting a pluralistic and democratic Syria.

Qassas said he was unsure whether it would be possible to resolve the internal distribution of power within the current corridors of authority in a way that leans sufficiently toward religious and political moderation, and thus allows for the kind of decisive shift needed to achieve a comprehensive, participatory democratic transition in Syria.

He warned that Syria has quickly entered an exclusionary, authoritarian path that threatens both the unity of the country and the future of its people. He suggested that the multi-stakeholder political game in Syria needs the emergence of an unexpected new factor to reshape the balance of power and open the way for new outcomes and a new political landscape.

However, Qassas said the likelihood of such a development remains low, even if theoretically possible. Given the current trajectory, he predicted that Syria will likely face a prolonged and difficult period before the democracy that people hope for can take shape.

a.k

ANHA