The Final Declaration of National Salvage Congress

Under the slogan "For civil, democratic and pluralistic Syria ", the National Salvage Congress was held  in Istanbul on July 16, 2011 AD in the presence of national personalities and activists, representatives of the youth and the coordination committees of Syrian revolution and  representative of the national action factions. However, due to the fact that a number of Martyrs have been killed in the neighborhood of Qaboun (Damascus) at the site reserved for the conference that was to be held in Damascus to coincide with the Istanbul one, the Damascus Conference was cancelled. 

The participants started the meeting with a minute of silence and the recitation of Al-Fatiha, in tribute to the martyrs’ souls.  Moreover, the attendees condemned the massacre committed by the regime in the neighborhood of Qaboun, calling for the establishment of International Investigation Committee on this massacre and the previous massacres committed by the regime, and expressed their appreciation for the sacrifices carried out by the youth of the revolution. Further, the participants commended the officers and members of the military who have aligned themselves with the choice of the people for freedom and dignity.

In addition, all the attendees concurred that the killing, the displacement of people and the seize of cities and villages carried out by the regime, made it lose its popular and political legitimacy. Plus, they stressed the right of the people in the revolution to achieve their legitimate demands for freedom and dignity and to ensure a bright future for civil and democratic Syria that is for all its children; and they considered that the National Salvage as a step in this direction and consistent with the sacrifices offered by the Syrian people. 

 The Conference called upon the Syrian people and their national forces to achieve the following objectives: 
1 – The escalation of the peaceful democratic struggle to which all the factions and spectra of the Syrian opposition forces have contributed through long years of struggle and work with all opposition parties to topple the Syrian regime and develop a national political alternative, rejecting any foreign military intervention. 
2 - The peaceful transfer of power to a transitional national government that will disintegrate the security state, establish constitutional life and organize parliamentary and presidential elections. 
3 – The establishment of a pluralistic democratic civil state based on citizenship that originates from a modern constitution that embodies the Syrians’ ambition for shaping a free and safe future and the emphasis on the importance of the role of youth and women in it. 
4 – The emphasis on the full equality of all the sons and daughters of the Syrian people, the respect for their religious and ethnic particularities, the peaceful coexistence and national cooperation between all the Muslim and Christian sects of the Syrian people and the participation of all ethnic groups, including Kurds, Assyrians and Turkish, and all other minorities, in the building of a civil, democratic and pluralistic state that is based on the ideas of social contract and alternation of power and guarantees the rights of freedom and dignity for all.
5 - The emphasis on the full equality of all the sons and daughters of the Syrian people, the respect for their religious and ethnic particularities and the peaceful coexistence and national cooperation between all the Muslim and Christian sects of the Syrian people.

Finally, the conferees in Istanbul have established a national commission made up of 25 members, from across the spectrum of the opposition, and authorized to elect an Executive Office that will consist of 11 members; further, the participants in Damascus will elect 50 members for the National Commission and 13 members for the Executive Office.

The members of the National Commission elected in Istanbul are:

1. Najib Ghadhbian

2. Christina Abraham

3. Adib al-Shishakli

4. Iyas al-Maleh

5. Muhamed Sirmini

6. Eid Abassi

7. Fateh al-Rawi

8. Ahmad al-Jaborri

9. Hamdi Othman

10. Farhad Ahmad

11. Marah al-Buka’i

12. Hassan Hashimi

13. Khalid Khoja

14. Moteea Al-Botein

15. Ali Auzturkman

16. Faraj Hammod al-Faraj

17. Mahmmod al-Faisal

18. Ommar al-Shwaf

19. Jamal Al-Wadi

20. Ahmad al-Asa’ad

21. Mahmmod al-Dughim

22. Marwan Da’as

23. Mariam al-Jalabi

24. Jamal al-Ward

25. Ibrahim al-Hariri

What did the opposition achieve by the “National Salvage Congress”?

To a large extent the “National Salvage Congress” was a success. Through this conference the opposition, and consequently the Syrian revolution, has been able to achieve many objectives.

First, the opposition exposed the hypocrisy of the regime. The regime promised reforms. The “president” announced that he was “cancelling” the state of emergency. However, when the opposition decided to hold a meeting concomitantly in Damascus and Istanbul, the regime response was so violent, killing more than 24 persons in front of the hall in which the Damascus section of meeting was supposed to be held. This response revealed the real face of the regime and exposed its hypocrisy to the Syrian people and the International community. Till recently the American Administration had a small glimmer of hope that the regime could be faithful with its promised reforms, but after this massacre this glimmer of hope has surely completely faded.

Second, the meeting was an excellent political exercise for the opposition in which they proposed conflicting ideas, discussed with respect and open mind and reached compromises and consensus. This was a rare scene in Syrian politics. The Syrian opposition has infamously known for its division due to personal and ideological differences. In this meeting, the opposition showed us that it can transcend its trifling personal conflicts and it can overcome its destructive ideological rigidity, when the interest of the country requires that. For long time, the Syrian regime played on these differences to paralyze the opposition; today, the opposition pulled that card out from the hands of the vicious regime. For long time, the Syrian opposition brought to itself the ridicule and distrust of the international community (as clearly shown in the Wikileaks documents); today the opposition redeemed itself. For long time, the opposition made us worry about its narrow mind and fragmented condition; today, the opposition calmed and exalted our concerned mind.

Lastly and most importantly, the opposition has put, in this meeting, a plan of action to carry out the political fight against the regime. Although this plan still primitive, it is an important step in the right direction. Since the Syrian revolution started four month ago the development on the ground has been rapidly progressing, with additional cities and larger number of people involved every week. However, the various political solutions proposed came unviable or timid at best. In this meeting, the opposition with a united voice elected a “council of national salvation”, which will actively conduct the political fight at the national and international scenes, to bring the regime down. By far, this is the most mature and workable solution for the current Syrian crisis.

In my opinion the “National Salvage Congress” has succeeded to a great measure. However, it is important to see the extent to which the opposition can be effective in its fight with the Assad regime. Further, it is important to see whether the international community and the Syrian people would perceive the unified, active and pragmatic opposition as a viable alternative to the dying regime.

What Kind of Leading Entity Does the Syrian Opposition Need?

The discussion regarding the political entity that Syria needs in this moment is a very important one, because it will have a decisive impact on the war with the regime and on the transition period thereafter. Does the Syrian opposition need a shadow government of technocrats or a leading body composed of politicians from the opposition?

What we need now is a political entity that is composed from politicians who are able to lead the political fight against regime and to navigate through the transition period till a free election is held. We need a political entity that is composed from people who can counteract the propaganda machine of the regime. We need a political entity that can connect and communicate with Syrian people. We need a political entity that can inspire and encourage the people protesting in the street. We need a political entity that can bring to the revolution the people who are neutral till now. We need a political entity that can lay out a vision for the future of the country. We need a political entity that can address the international community. We need people who have good understanding for life. We need people who have good understanding for society. We need people who have can understand human beings around them. We need people who can talk coherently. We need people who know to speak to human minds. We need people who can bring a nation together even if this nation contains groups with different tendencies and culture.

At this time, we do not care whether these people are physicians, engineers or having any high professional degrees (technocrats). Most leaders who lead great nations in difficult time of their history did not have high degrees. To mention few, Churchill during the second world war, De Gaulle during the war and the years that just followed it and Mandela during the apartheid regime. All these people succeeded not because they possessed high –degrees, but because they understood the needs of their respective nations at that particular time. They succeeded, because they understood the dynamic of international relationship at that time. They succeeded because they have courage and stamina. They succeeded because they were not slaves of immature needs. In other words, they succeeded because they have the vision and the charisma.

In fact, we do not need at this time a shadow government of technocrats. We need a governing entity that is composed politicians from the opposition that can lead and inspire our great people though this difficult time.