SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – Syria’s southern city of Suwayda faced a month marked with widespread protests although government forces deployed heavily in the area. Yet, protesters’ demands concerning the ration card have not been met so far and people call to scale up.
Protesters believe the government do not regard their demands deliberately. At first, the protesters called the government to cancel the decision to lift subsidy off the ration card for thousands of families, but soon demands changed.
Now, the protesters call for the establishment of a civil fair state free from sectarian, partisan, and racial discrimination and a state free from monopoly of power.
The protesters announced they scaled up their demands on February 25 during a protest in front of Ain Zaman Shrine in the city center.
The protesters asserted the need to set up a state of law and institutions, not a state of corruption. They urged the need to open the file of corruption and hold the corrupts accountable and repatriate the looted money to the coffers of the state.
Also the protesters demanded the government to disclose the fate of the detainees and try them in an impartial court, to follow-up the file of the missing and reveal their fate, to curb the phenomenon of “alien” drugs, to cancel security approval for selling properties and the power of attorney, to abolish customs, to raise the purchasing power of the population, to control prices so that to match the people’s income and support farmers.
Muhannad Shihabaddin, an activist of Suwayda said the government was used to follow the deafening policy.
He believes the government, if accepted to implement one single demand, however small, will consider it like concession to the people. Therefore, the government used to refuse to listen and used to ignore any demands in order to maintain the tyrannical prestige.
In regard to the demands of the protests, Shihabaddin said “it would be better if they were in more clarified expressions voicing the aspiration of the ordinary people.
“A civil state is not necessarily to be democratic. It would be better if the protester demand a citizenship, democratic, secular and civil state.”
Shihabaddin stressed the release of detainees is the first and prominent demand.
Since early February, widespread anti-government protests were staged in Suwayda where people blocked the roads.
On February 6, the government deployed heavy military reinforcement to the city of Suwayda.
Shihabaddin firmly believes that prohibiting illegal drugs would be achieved if Iran and Hezbollah were out of the region.
Moreover, the file of corruption is achievable if the two UN Resolutions 2254 and 2118 were applied, the activist said.
Concerning raising the purchasing power of the people and controlling the prices, Shihabaddin said the government is unable to meet this demand. “A radical change to the salaries and law of ranks is needed.”
In turn, Marwan Shqeir, a pseudonym, lost hope in the government. “Its key interest is to loot the public sector and spread corruption.”
“How such corrupt governments could achieve a small part of the people’s demands”, Shqeir jeered.
Under the demand of an autonomous administration in the south, Hamza al-Mokhtar, admin of Public Protest in Suwayda Facebook account said “these demands are described as incapacitate. The government would never meet one of these demands even those related to the living conditions.
Al-Mokhtar wonders “Don’t the youths in the protest know that the government is unable to provide such demands?”
Al-Mokhtar hopes that, following the protest, new phase for political work will rise in Suwayda. “I think Suwayda governorate will lead the second stage of the Syrian revolution.”
All of the people realize these demands in a veiled way, including “toppling the regime”.