Protests halt with time limit to meet demands in Syria’s Suwayda

SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – On Friday, organizers of the public rally in Syria’s southern city of Suwayda released a statement announcing suspension of the protests temporarily and fixing a time limit for the government to meet the people’s demands.  

The suspension decision came by instructions of the Druze community spiritual chiefdom in order to meet the people’s demands within the state of law and institutions not the state of “corruption”.   

“We, as organizers of the public rally, confess giving a time limit to implement our people’s decisions within the framework of the state of law and institutions not the state of corruption. Our main objective in the first place is to secure people’s dignity and what it entails of living with dignity free from humiliation and degradation,” the statement said.   

The public rally will not stop, the statement said, warning at the same time of “exploiting” the protest for other intentions and goals.

Some people agreed with the statement while others disagreed .

A young man, who participated in the protest and preferred to be unidentified, told North Press that non fixing a time limit proves that the protest organizers have been subjected to serious harassment in order to release such a statement.   

“The statement does not represent all the protesters,” he said.

On the other hand, other young men engaged in the protest voiced trust in the decisions of the rally’s leadership, adding such decisions can spare lives in Suwayda. 

On Friday, widespread protests were staged in the city where protesters chanted slogans of living with dignity and defending the dignity of Syria. At the same time, unprecedented security forces and military reinforcement were deployed in the city.

Peaceful protests against the government’s decision to lift subsidy for many families continued in the city for a whole week. Traffic was paralyzed in the east and west countryside. The Damascus-Suwayda Highway was blocked, too. 

Reporting by Razan Zeinaddin