Emaj Magazine

A French foreign minister Alain Juppe recently said that President Assad had lost his right to rule, British foreign secretary William Hague said Assad must “reform or step aside”, and I say: where is Assad, the president?!!! Where he is indeed: to reforming, stepping aside, or losing power?

Since the situation escalated on March 15^th, President Assad has appeared in public twice. The first time was on March 30^th, a miserable and inexcusable failure which disappointed both supporters and opponents. The second appearance was on April 16^th when he chaired the first session and addressed the new cabinet ministers.

A protester with his fingers painted with the Syrian flag fhashes a victory sign during a demonstration after Friday prayers in April @ AFP

 However, “The speech was seen by many as an attempt at  conciliation by a government that has repressed protests with a combination of cold-blooded violence and hollow pledges to study proposals”, according to New York Times reports.

Following  these events and the escalated  violence in different cities in Syria, the growing  death toll, the growing number of detentions, and the complete media blackout that has resulted in the state media and foreign media  frequently providing contradicting versions of the same stories, I am constantly wondering where Assad is (the president and not his brother)? Is he still in Syria? Is he the decision maker after all? Is he pleased with the bloodshed which is taking the lives of Syrians, whether civilians, protestors, or security and army men? Is he following the news with a bleeding heart and a weeping soul? Why has he disappeared and  why has his voice not been heard- like many other Syrians whose fear obliged them to silence their thoughts or feelings? The simplest question of all: where is Assad?

It has become evident that the government has two authorities, the State authority and another “phantom” authority, which refers to the security apparatus ruled by the president’s secretive family. The division is certain on the government and protestors sides. From the government’s side, there’s the political camp calling for reforms and there’s a military and security camp calling to suppress the revolution using the repression and brutality.

Watch Latest brutality by Syrian security forces     

The protest camps, however, distinguish one moderate camp which is ready to meet with the government in the middle of the road and work collectively to implement practical reforms with immediate steps, while the second camp is affiliated with some external forces. The big crisis with its catastrophic effects on the Syrians is when the government military and security camp confront the protestors foreign camp, and that is what is happening now. How can this bloodshed and violence be stopped? How can we predict what measures, other than violence, the government will take after the protests clearly announced that they want to topple the regime? There’s a race against the clock between the political reform process and political security process. The mainstream people are lost in between without mercy, but with more casualties.

The earnest efforts to activate the National Dialogue Committee with stable mechanisms and genuine intentions offer no hope of bringing the government and opposition to an open dialogue. The lack of trust in current the government, and the insistence of the majority of the opposition on not having any kind of dialogue with this government make the mediators’ mission to reconcile the views of both sides impossible.         

With Syria drenched in blood, there is certainly no time for a blame-game, no time for a delay-game, and no time for runaway-game. It is the time to seize the opportunity and finalize stripping the government of its power and end its vicious practices; it is the time to expose the phony promises of the government for real reforms, and also, the time to solidify the opposition with concrete demands and an agenda.

Demonstrators light candles for Syria in a sit-in protest

I asked myself IF President Assad appears in public, what I would like to hear, apart from his resignation? What I would like to hear to start building a small amount of trust and reliability? What I would like to hear to regain some dignity?

Before establishing milestones and timeframes, I just want the president to offer sincere condolences to all Syrians who have been martyred during the last few months and announce one day of mourning in Syria (of course he should have declared this in his first speech). I want to hear that the tens of thousands of the prisoners of conscience (not just a couple of hundred) will be unconditionally freed. I want the security and military to be disarmed for one Friday to refute the different stories about who started the shooting and killing.

I saw the Pro-Assad demonstration last Thursday in Damascus where young people were strongly cheering for the President and ardently competing to show their love and loyalty. I doubted whom they are praising; a disappearing man or a shadow? If he doesn’t owe it to the country, if he doesn’t owe it to the martyrs, if he doesn’t owe it to the protesters and opponents, he unquestionably owes it to his supporters.

After hearing about 28 deaths last Friday and hearing about “Syrian Refugees” at the Syrian-Turkish border, when Syria has always been the host country for all refugees from all nationalities, religions, sects and ethnic groups, my heart is crying for you, Syria.