Division Over Hitto: Nothing More Than A Sunni Movement Against The Ruling Alawite Ruler
31 March 2013By
Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed
"His origins are Kurdish and he was born in Damascus;
this allows him to create good relations with all
Syria's communities. He could become the best mediator
to resolve unsettled issues because he belongs to more
than one community."
This is how President of the Syrian National
Coalition, Sheikh Moaz Alkhatib, described Syria's
newly-elected interim Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto.
Alkhatib's opinion of Hitto is optimistic and a strong
response against many critical or rejectionist voices.
A number of coalition leaders resigned in protest
against Hitto's election. This move has embarrassed
the Syrians, and perhaps strengthened the view being
promoted by the Damascus regime that the opposition is
only interested in seizing power, and will fight to do
so.
In fact, the Syrian National Coalition leadership has
truly disagreed on everything to do with organization,
hierarchy, and structure, not to mention who should be
in charge. They first disagreed over who should
preside over the Syrian National Council, following
this who should run the National Coalition, while now
they are disputing Hitto's election. There were
previous attempts to form similar entities and
organizations, such as the Syrian Revolutionary Board
of Trustees, which also announced a transitional
government. However this project died just one day
after its announcement.
The Syrian National Coalition, which is the huge
umbrella group that is now representing all Syrian
opposition groups, contains sixteen separate parties
representing all Syrian groups and communities; while
some of these parties themselves are unions of smaller
parties and groups. This gives a clearer picture
regarding the difficulties of managing the Syrian
opposition, while also raising concerns about the
future of Syria after Bashar Al-Assad's regime has
been toppled.
Anybody who has monitored the history of countries
that have passed through similar stages of unrest will
see that the Syrian opposition is following the usual
scenario. The Syrian regime has marginalized and
excluded all sides in the country over the past 40
years; now that they have re-emerged following the
start of the revolution, it is only natural for them
to compete against each other. We can draw parallels
with Iraq, because following President Saddam
Hussein's defeat in 1991 [in the first Gulf War] and
his ouster in 2003, the country's opposition lived in
a perpetual state of rivalry and dispute which lasted
12 years.
However we do not expect the Syrian opposition in
exile to quarrel with each other, particularly as this
only helps the regime and expands the conflict. The
most important thing is to work to establish a
political regime that is fair. The Syrian people
should not be concerned with choosing a president and
government officials; now is not the time for this.
I do not know if Ghassan Hitto is the right choice for
interim prime minister or not; we cannot judge him
until he has been in the job for at least a few
months. We must also bear in mind that whatever Syrian
candidate had been chosen would have faced vetoes and
withdrawals. Since there is no fair mechanism to
represent the Syrian people in the coalition's
election, and this is an impossibility under the
current circumstances, then those who believe in the
Syrian people's revolution must accept that Hitto
received the majority vote.
It is a symbolic choice that demonstrates that the
Syria of tomorrow is able to embrace all its citizens
regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation.
Hitto's election is a message to the sectarian Syrians
who support the revolution, as well as those who
oppose it. This is a message to the world responding
to those who view the Syrian people's demands for the
overthrow of Assad as nothing more than a Sunni
movement against the ruling Alawite ruler. This is a
view that diminishes the reality behind the Syrian
revolution that is being waged against a brutal regime
that has ruled the country with an iron fist over the
past 40 years.
Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai.
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