Riyad Darar calls for a Syrian reconciliation, establishment of a pluralistic system with participation of all Syrians

Syria has witnessed rapid developments that led to the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime and the takeover of the political and military situation in those areas by the "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" led by Ahmad al-Shar'a (Abu Muhammad al-Julani), amid questions about the nature of the upcoming phase, especially regarding the form of the ruling system, in light of fears of establishing a religious totalitarian regime that could affect the cultural, national, and ethnic diversity that characterizes the Syrian homeland.

Positive signals do not eliminate concerns. 

The Syrian politician and co-chair of the advisory office in the Syrian Democratic Council, Riyad Darar, spoke about this by evaluating what happened, saying: "The early stages after the toppling of the Assad regime witnessed positive signals through the statements of Ahmad al-Shara, who is the leader of the military administration that led the movement starting with the liberation of Aleppo. During their march from the liberation of Aleppo to Damascus, things were positive and gave the impression that there is a group that truly wants to liberate the country."

But he added, "The problem is not here, but in the mechanisms of future administrative work; because Syria is a diverse country with various factions and components." Therefore, there should be a continuous discourse directed at everyone, and there should be genuine participation, and the ideology that we have observed expressed by some elements who stop people and deal with them with questions and answers that carry a bitter tone reminiscent of the days of ISIS control should be abandoned. It is very important to get rid of these expressions and to open up to the reality that this society is diverse, and it should be dealt with as it is, without anyone trying to change its social mindset, as this could lead to conflicts that may never end.

Many challenges face the country. 

Darar spoke about the challenges facing Syria, saying: "The challenges after toppling of the Assad regime, which has become obsolete and must remain obsolete, lie in restoring the meaning of participation for all the Syrian people in managing themselves, through the mechanisms proposed by many political forces regarding the shape of the upcoming governance system. There is an important issue and a major challenge, which is services, as the country is now destroyed, shattered, and poor, and needs more international support and internal achievement and production. This can be achieved by involving all segments of society in reconstruction and development, which will bring the country back to stability and hope after a long war." 

He added: "There is also a significant danger in not understanding the form of governance that should be, as we see it, democratic, relying on a decentralized system for regions to govern themselves in a civilized manner. The central authority should maintain its sovereign administration, represented by a unified army and foreign affairs, and express itself in a way that unites Syrians under a single national discourse. This also applies to finance and the economy, so that the country can be unified under an economic model that everyone can share in, which is free and capable of development and creativity." 

And I believe that "Syria in the upcoming phase is heading towards establishing modern and contemporary mechanisms of understanding, and it may suffer from reactions and movements that we can call remnants. These remnants are currently hiding to later emerge through destructive means, bombing areas, and attacking other regions, and this is what we should pay attention to; because it will stir discord there. Also, the rising voices towards a single ideology can be worrisome because they are very frightening, and the Syrians feel the pains of the ideological phase, whether it is in the name of Islam or Ba'athism; because when it dominates with a single vision, it will fragment the structure of society and affect the desired path of rebuilding Syria."

A new vision for the transitional phase 

Regarding what is required from the Syrian parties, Darar pointed out that "the new vision for the transitional phase should work on establishing the concept of governance so that it is a national democratic governance. This might start from a comprehensive national conference that establishes a legislative assembly and drafts a modern constitution. This is important in addition to a transitional government from this conference. Everyone should also think of a political model that does not rely on the one-party model. This democratic model could be parliamentary or in another form, but it should be based on a modern concept that everyone can participate in, away from the totalitarian mindset that prevailed in previous stages."

He emphasized that "everyone must also recognize the rights of the components and the Syrian diversity, and this should be enshrined in the constitution to acknowledge that all these components are part of the one Syrian nation. Their affiliations and identities are due to history and lineages, which are natural in people's lives, and due to beliefs, which people have the right to adhere to any belief they wish without imposing anyone's belief on them. Everyone must think about the rule of law, and this law should be enacted by the legislative authority to serve the people, benefiting from legislative jurisprudence that aligns with the contemporary interests of people's lives without imposing a single model on them. Everyone must adopt the principle of separation of powers in the upcoming political life, and equality among citizens should be the foundation of law and practice in politics and society."

He added, "We all need to work on a comprehensive national project, and this project should go through transitional justice in which those in charge of political life participate, so that they can provide justice to the victims among the Syrian people away from revenge and hold accountable all the pillars of the regime responsible for the crimes." We must conclude with a national reconciliation that relies on the fact that the human being is the center of the transitional process.

Thus, we all strive to protect minorities and avoid acts of revenge, and we must liberate ourselves from the violence of the past and work to bring to justice all those who have committed security and military violations. We are all working towards a pluralistic system based on citizenship and human rights.

T/ Satt.

ANHA