Recent meetings held by the General Commission of the Syrian National Coalition have seen an escalation of maneuvers by an alliance led by the Muslims Brotherhood.
The latest step was the attempt to elect Ahmad Toumeh to the post of Prime Minister of the Interim Government, despite the fact that the majority of the General Commission dismissed him two months ago. The move was considered a moral and political challenge against the majority in the Coalition and the political blocs forming it.
The latest move follows other steps, including the taking of control of the Assistance Coordination Unit and the leadership of the Military Council. The Brotherhood named independent representatives supporting their alliance to use them in the voting process to elect their nominee, who will lead the government intended to replace the Coalition, which they couldn’t fully control.
The Democratic Bloc and its allies, in addition to other components of the Coalition, including the Kurdish National Council, the Declaration of Damascus and several independent figures, are not against cooperation and coordination between the other blocs in the Coalition and the Syrian opposition forces which face Assad's regime. However these forces refused and still reject attempts by the Brotherhood and its new alliance to take control over the Coalition and its institutions, especially under the hard circumstances which face the Syrian crisis, as the terror of the regime and Al-Qaeda affiliates like ISIS and the Nusra Front continues.
The Democratic Bloc and its allies have worked for more than a year to strengthen the Syrian National Coalition, to empower its relations and to improve its performance inside Syria despite the limited capabilities and the international support which doesn’t respond efficiently to the political and humanitarian needs of the Syrian people and their revolution.
The views and tendencies of the Brotherhood and its new alliance threaten the humble achievements reached so far, especially their rejection of the war against terror, though this war will not be against ISIS only, as it will rather include Assad's regime and its Lebanese and Iraqi militias which practiced terror over the Syrian people for long years.
The policies and positions of the new alliance may lead to the failure of the new changes in the international policy to face terror. They may also marginalize the Syrian crisis and have a negative impact on the Coalition's relation with the Friends of Syria countries. This negative effect will be created through disagreements and contradictions with these countries, especially Turkey, which supported the Syrian people throughout the crisis. This takes place while the national policy of the Coalition is supposed to assemble all the local, regional and international powers and capabilities to serve the Syrian people and help them achieve their aspirations to topple the regime, establish a new regime and provide freedom, justice and equality to all Syrians.
These policies have forced us to boycott the election of the Prime Minister of the Interim Government. The insistence on proceeding with this election process will create a base to change our relations with the Coalition and it may even lead us to leave it, because this process ignores many forces in the Coalition which was meant to be the political umbrella for Syrians and a power recognized by the international community.
We stress that practical steps are needed to stop these elections and undo the illegitimate procedures followed to elect the Military Council and the Chief of Staff.
Furthermore, serious dialogue needs to be held to reform the Coalition and reestablish it on a participatory basis, instead of the policy of siege and imposition.
We renew our promise to our people, our country and our revolution that we will carry on our efforts to achieve the aspirations of our people to provide peace, freedom, justice and equality to all Syrians.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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