Syrian politician says a federal model would be most appropriate for Syria

Syrian politician Samir Nashar told ANHA agency in an interview that the steps the transitional government has taken since the very beginning did not meet the needs and realities of Syrian society.

He said that instead of "a dialogue forum," a national conference should have been held that would have produced binding results, not recommendations. Due to many reasons, a set of wrong steps taken by the rulers has resulted in various catastrophes that have thrown the country into a state of uncertainty about the future in Syria.

Nashar, who stems from the generation of opposition leaders, explained that the ideal form for the future of Syria is a "federal state" based on geography rather than ethnicity or sectarianism, which encompasses all the Syrian regions. He added: “I look forward to Aleppo becoming a model for federal decentralization, as well as the coast, Hama, Homs, and al-Jazira canton; the principle should apply to the entire Syrian territory.”

Nashar explained that a political project by a group of opposition figures and politicians along with academics, entitled "Federal Syria," was adopted in 2019 and has received wide support from a broad spectrum of opposition and intellectuals.

He added that what is known as a "federal state" suffers from a general misunderstanding, as it is taken to mean separation or partition, which is completely untrue. On the contrary, it is a model for national unity for territory and people in a pluralistic framework, as in the United Arab Emirates.

 Nashar mentioned that this proposal has come under criticism, perhaps from a large segment of the population, especially after the circumstances that surrounded the fall of the Ba'ath regime and the rise of the current regime.

He added: “There are many transgressions and many concerns; this requires a great deal of work.” He called for initiatives from the community and individuals independent of the de facto authority meaning the current government to shed light on the breadth of Syrian identity: its Arabs and Kurds, its Muslims and Christians, Sunnis, Alawites, and Druze, and all its sub-identities. "Unfortunately," he said, "the outside world still views Syria merely as tribes and sects."

ANHA