The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has officially approved the dismissal of its former president, Nasr Hariri, and former vice president, Ruba Habboush. This decision was reached following a voting session held on Monday, with the majority of members supporting the dismissals.
Nasr Hariri, the former president, confirmed the decision to Enab Baladi but did not provide details regarding the voting process.
Prominent Syrian Intellectual and Critic, Khaled Khalifa, Mourned by Fellow Artists and Writers
Ruba Habboush informed Enab Baladi that the vote on their dismissal was held in absentia, and they were not informed in advance about this vote regarding their membership within the coalition. She mentioned that the coalition had convened a session on the day in question to discuss field and military developments in northern Syria, but the session concluded with their dismissal.
Habboush believes that this dismissal decision highlights the concerns she previously voiced about voting mechanisms and alleged violations of the coalition’s internal regulations by influential members.
The media office of the coalition confirmed the dismissals, stating that they had “invited all members to attend the voting session.”
The coalition also reviewed the findings of an investigation conducted by a “fact-finding committee” into allegations made by the former president, Nasr Hariri. These allegations involved threats made by the head of the interim government, Abdul Rahman Mustafa, to pressure coalition members to vote for Hadi al-Bahra.
According to the results of the investigation, which took place during Bahra’s meeting with Syrian journalists in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 6, the committee found Hariri’s allegations to be “baseless.” Abdul Rahman Mustafa denied the allegations, and Hariri refused to testify on the matter. None of the coalition members supported Hariri’s claims, leading to the committee’s conclusion.
Bahra had previously stated that if it was proven that Abdul Rahman Mustafa had threatened coalition members, he would resign from his position.
In early July, a leaked letter addressed to the deputy head of the coalition, Ruba Habboush, raised questions about the coalition’s election mechanisms following the postponement of elections in July. Habboush had criticized the “delegation” mechanism in elections, where ten members act as “heralds of the elections” and are elected to vote on behalf of all coalition members, who number around 80. She considered this mechanism a violation of democratic principles and the right to vote freely. This “authorization mechanism” involves one person collecting the identity cards of a group of coalition members and casting their votes on their behalf.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
