What are the obstacles that still prevent the unity of all parties and components of the national democratic movement in Syria? A question perhaps every Syrian citizen asks himself every day, as they cling to the hope for an end to the deepening tragedy experienced by their homeland.
After four bloody years of the Syrian uprising, we understand this revolution's success in achieving its required objectives – above all else – the unification of the various forces, bodies and national figures that truly express the will of Syrian people to build their desired democratic system. When we recall what we repeated during the first year of the uprising, we realize that the achievement of the democratization process in the face of the challenges facing Syria today is a second independence for our country, as it signifies a new birth for Syria to become a modern, civil and democratic state for all of its citizens, without discrimination.
After four years, with regard to the regional and international circumstances which surround us, we have realized that the success of this change is beyond operational procedures – such as elections, referendums and forms of power – and that this democratic process is instead a comprehensive transformation in the current state of Syrian society: the political, economic, social and cultural. This transformation requires a necessary tool; Syria’s national unity, which was the tool of the Syrian people to achieve their first independence, and to face all the dangers and challenges that crossed them.
This tool requires the unification of forces and components of Syria’s people in three main areas: the unity of their political vision with regards to the nature of the democratic future they seek, the unity of the will and determination for self-dependence and complete sacrifice, and finally the unity of the method that should be followed to achieve this goal.
The unity of the Syria’s national democratic forces and the unity of their program in the fateful battle deserves a pause, especially in light of the lessons and experiences of the last few years. Achieving such a goal should be based on the following three grounds:
First, all the national forces and parties inside Syria and abroad should be honest with themselves first and then with their fellow people. They should live up to the required level of awareness in understanding the reality of the Syrian crisis with all its regional and international complexities. They should recognize the mistakes they have committed, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and they should reach a practical conclusion that there is no one party in the opposition that can claim to represent the will of Syrian people and their aspirations. All these parties should abandon their own programs and projects, which they still see as the only way of salvation, despite the fragmentation in the national forces, and the continuation of the Syrian tragedy. The required attitude is that all the parties of the Syrian national movement should work very hard to provide all the conditions to hold the General Syrian National Congress, which does not rule out or exclude any party that believes in this path that primarily aims for the representation of the will of the popular movement with both its civilian and military wings committed to the objectives of the revolution.
Second, the unity – which is now considered a vital necessity – cannot survive without a unified political program that clearly defines the tasks of the transitional period and the identity of the alternative democratic system; one that should enshrine the principle of free citizenship without discrimination. The program should stress that the way to achieve the objectives of our people, maintain the Syrian state and protect our national unity is the national political negotiated solution based on the Geneva communique.
Third, all the national forces and parties which declare their approval of the Geneva communique should underline their independence on the ground, and end their connections with the policies and agendas of regional and other foreign countries. Though the solution of the Syrian issue requires an international consensus between the countries involved in the Syrian crisis, the only true guarantee that this expected international consensus would be in the interests of the Syrian people and their national cause is undoubtedly the restoration of the independent Syrian national decision. Syrians are responsible for the fate and future of their country, and to ensure the restoration of independent national decision-making, we should all stand firmly against the foreign agendas of those terrorist groups which spread devastation and destruction through the body of Syrian society, deforming its national identity and distinctive cultural heritage.
Will we all respond to the call of our national responsibility, overcome our rival and fragmented selves, and strive – with a collective will – to put the steps and tasks in their right context in order to save our country and achieve its new resurrection from the hell of tyranny and terror?
This is what will be determined by the judgment of history, sooner or later, about the will of Syrian people who faced challenges and calamities in various difficult and crucial stages of their history with their united, conscious and civilized principles.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
