DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Syrian politicians believe that federalism can be the best solution for the Syrian crisis, which enters its second decade, amid absence of a near and clear political solution. However, it needs many fundamental elements to be accepted by all Syrian communities.
Although the Syrian situation in its current form and the political and military partition on the ground give a federal form of government, yet it has not become a popular demand.
The federal system is met with popular rejection, especially among oppositionists, as they believe that they cannot live in a federal regime along with the current governing regime, according to what they said.
While others believe that the federal system is the only way out towards the solution that guarantees rights of all communities of the Syrian people, as well as, it guarantees the unity of the country, and can be applied apart from the international solution.
Hassan al-Hariri, member of the Small Body in the Constitutional Committee from the opposition bloc, said, “Federalism has become a reality in Syria.”
“On the ground, Syria has been effectively partitioned into multiple regions controlled by different powers: northeast Syria held by the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), and west of the Euphrates River which is controlled by Syrian opposition and is divided into two parts including Aleppo northern countryside held by Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions (known as Syrian National Army-SNA) and Idlib Governorate which is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS-formerly al-Nusra Front), in addition to government-held areas in the west and center of the country,” al-Hariri explained.
“But this situation threats Syria, because representatives of these federations did not agree on a form for this system or on a common constitution based on the will of the ruling parties,” al-Hariri added.
The federalism could help “al-Assad regime” to prolong its own pro forma federalism, which does not correspond to the reality in an objective manner, according to the Constitutional Committee member.
He stressed that Syrians’ rejection of the federal project is justified and legitimate, because there is no agreed-on social contract based on the will and acceptance of all Syrians, a contract that can protect them constitutionally.
“Al-Assad regime” has been the ruling power in Syria for over fifty years using strong security apparatuses to strengthen its power, creating a strong centralized authority, so it will be difficult for Syrians to transfer to a federal or decentralized regime.
Centralized regime
Marwan Baddah, member of Syrian al-Liwa Party, who resides in Belgium, agrees with al-Hariri. He also believes that federalism is a project that “protects and unites both land and people.”
“The federal system differs from the centralized one. The latter can be described as a dictatorial authority, which Syria went through during al-Assad regime,” he further explained.
The decentralization differs from federalism. The difference is represented by the broad constitutional powers that work in the federal system of the regions.
Each region or federal state has broad political powers defined by the constitution and has a local government, a local parliament and some of its own laws. It shares ministries and sovereign matters with the central government such as foreign affairs, flag, currency, anthem and others.
However, this is not available in the decentralized system, which mainly focuses on giving broader powers to the administrative units in terms of administrative and financial terms away from political matters.
Decentralization can simply be defined as the transfer of part of the powers of the central government to regional or state authorities and it is in response to demands for diversity.
“Al-Assad regime has clung to power for over fifty years using a strong security apparatus to bolster its rule, creating a strong centralized, dictatorial authority,” Baddah said.
“The federalism is the solution for unity in Syria, and the most appropriate solution to prevent Iranian incursion into the country, especially since its danger is no more limited to Suwayda and Syria only, but it extends to Jordan and Israel in the first place, Egypt and the Gulf countries,” he stressed.
The Syrian al-Liwa Party was formed in July 2021 in the Druze-majority governorate of Suwayda south Syria, it aims to politically represent the Druze community, and restore the role of the Druze in political scene in Syria, as well as it accepts any proposal for governance in Syria that brings all Syrians together.
Participation is the key to success
Unlike his predecessors, Saleh Gaddo, secretary of the Kurdish Democratic Left Party in Syria, which affiliated with the AANES, said that the key to success in any administration depends on the participatory working taking into account qualifications and integrity.
He described the experiment of the AANES as a successful project, although it is a recent experience in the Middle East.
The Autonomous Administration was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defeated ISIS militarily.
Gaddo drew attention to the possibility of applying the experience of the AANES to the rest of the Syrian regions on the basis of sharing wealth distribution, geographical unity, unifying the political and military decision, and achieving a comprehensive political settlement.
The Syrian geography as a whole constitutes an integrated food basket and contains agricultural and oil wealth and human resources. The issue of how to distribute the country’s wealth across all the regions is a main problem, Gaddo noted.
If there is no partnership and integration in distributing this wealth in a fair manner, the autonomous administration as a concept may not succeed in some areas, according to Gaddo.
“Key agricultural, livestock and oil resources are concentrated in north and east Syria, while al-Assad regime controls Syria’s main ports and oil refineries, meaning it would be necessary to reach a solid deal on how to share the country’s wealth before such a project could be adopted,” Gaddo stressed.
He asserted that if the autonomous administrations or federations are not built on the basis of real sharing of the country’s wealth, “they will not achieve much success.”
Gaddo believes that if the appropriate environment for a political change in Syria were provided by the internal and external opposition forces, as well as the regional forces active in the Syrian issue, there would be an international political will towards a solution.
The Kurdish politician concluded that the multiplicity of international and regional loyalties by the Syrians themselves can lead to the idea of federalism in all regions.