Haytham Manna is the spokesman abroad of the Syrian Coordinating Committee for Democratic Change, one of the secular and progressive components of the opposition. He argues here for a reconstruction of the civilian resistance in order to carry out a democratic transition.
Doesn't the popular peaceful and democratic movement that arose at the beginning of the revolt last year, find itself pushed aside by these armed and strongly Islamized groups?
The armed groups and the military solution adopted by the regime have eradicated the civilian resistance. Whatever the strength of and the number of places where there are peaceful demonstrations today, they do not represent a tenth of what was happening a year ago. There is a net decrease of peaceful initiatives. And today, if we talk about a small protest in a village, no one pays attention, as if it were useless. Military action has taken precedence over a political discussion that can regroup the movement and create a peaceful solution in the short term in Syria.
The opposition is divided. You do not work with the Syrian National Council (SNC), which is itself dominated by Islamists. Doesn't this division weaken the movement?The armed groups and the military solution adopted by the regime have eradicated the civilian resistance. Whatever the strength of and the number of places where there are peaceful demonstrations today, they do not represent a tenth of what was happening a year ago. There is a net decrease of peaceful initiatives. And today, if we talk about a small protest in a village, no one pays attention, as if it were useless. Military action has taken precedence over a political discussion that can regroup the movement and create a peaceful solution in the short term in Syria.
The idea that it was necessary to build something from outside Syria has weakened what was happening inside the country. It was believed that a structure outside the Syrian people could represent them before international bodies. But it is a structure that is not really representative of Syrian society, of the political forces on the inside and is, moreover, dependent on the decisions of three states: France, Turkey and Qatar. The SNC, despite the support it received at the financial, diplomatic and media level, has failed to achieve its goal. Now people are looking for another formula to unify the opposition. Meanwhile, armed groups have made gains on the ground and have become radicalized. Because from the beginning the money came from Salafist groups. This "salafization" of part of the military groups has plunged us into an internal conflict. There is, on the one hand, fear of everything that is extreme in a moderate society where more than 26 religious, ethnic and sectarian groups coexist. Foreign intervention, whether official or not, has fostered an Islamist ideological coloration at the expense of secular and democratic forces. It also promoted acts of revenge, political assassinations based on religious affiliation. These are acts manipulated and influenced by non-Syrian jihadist currents that are beginning to have a place in the country and that coordinate with the armed Islamist groups. This is a danger in case there is a power vacuum, because the civilian resistance is poorly organized, sometimes even absent due to the presence of armed groups. The political solution for a period of transition does not now exist. There is no timetable set by the various opposition forces. This lack of coordination gives the advantage to the most extreme Islamist groups.
Among the solutions is the Annan plan. But is it still relevant? There is the evocation of a transition, but some groups first want Bashar Al Assad to leave. What do you say?
Annan's proposals were an opportunity for a peaceful transition. Unfortunately, almost from the start, Qatar buried the plan and opted for the further militarization of the opposition. From the Western side, they also thought about a Plan B. But without support, at regional and international levels, such a plan cannot succeed. It was left to arms to settle the question, whether it was the loyalist army or armed groups of dissidents and Islamists. We will pay dearly for this lack of political solution. There are local wars. This is fertile ground for civil war which can lead to the formation of militias, but certainly not to the creation of an army capable of protecting the population during the transition period.
[ED NOTES;SOME OF THE SECULAR GROUPS HES TALKING ABOUT ARE THE VERY SAME FRAUDS WICH ARE IN BED WITH WEST,AND FAVOR REAPPROACHMENT WITH WESTERN IMPERIALISM.HIS CLAIM SYRIA SECURITY KILLED OFF SECULARS IN BEGGINING IS RIDICULLOUS AND HE OF COURSE SHOWS ZERO EVIDENCE..MORE ON
''Haytham Manna'' ... Haytham Manna Scandal http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/haytham-manna-scandal/ Haytham Manna introduces himself as a Syrian activist who claims to fight for human rights… In this video we will show how he had violated the human rights…
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