Syrian President Bashar Assad sworn in a few days ago for a third seven-year term. Far from being victorious, Assad has not yet won the civil war taking place in Syrian. Indeed, the international community described his elections as nothing but a stale joke. Assad’s insistence on running and winning elections came on the heels of the failure of the Geneva II talks. During the Geneva II talks, the Syrian team acted in bad faith. The objective was to stall the talks to justify holding elections. If anything, Assad has taken a defiant step to send a clear message to the United States and the Arabs that he is there to stay.
Assad’s speech on Wednesday reflects that he is still not in touch with reality. It seems that the bloody civil war — that has thus far claimed more than 160,000 lives — has not changed Assad’s attitude. Millions of Syrians have been displaced within Syrian or refugees in neighboring countries especially Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
In his inauguration speech, Assad described all of his opponents “terrorists.” He pledged that he would continue fighting them until total victory is achieved. He said that there would no place “for those who are awaiting the end of the war from outside. It is an illusion. The political solution comes from the reconciliation inside.” Moreover, Assad did not forget to warn Turkey and other countries that sided by the Syrian people’s right to rise up against tyranny. In his words, “Soon we will see that the Arab, regional and western countries that backed terrorism will pay the price as well.” He told his audience gathered in his palace, “they wanted it to be a revolution, but you have been the real revolutionaries… congratulations on your victory.”
If anything, the embattled president tried to create the illusion that he is fully in charge of Syria’s future. He showed no sign of wanting to meet the demands of those who called for genuine democratic reform. Although he talked about a future political dialogue, his speech was hard-line. All along, Assad maintained one line: Protesters against his rule are nothing but part of external conspiracy to ignite a sectarian war in Syria. His speech will hardly get him anywhere in the West and the Arab world. His claim that his people have already elected him and that he would start carrying out a pack of reform rings hollow.
It seems that Assad is not afraid from the divided international community. He believes that although the Europe, the US and the Arabs will not press to dethrone him because they are uncertain who would succeed him and this would affect the region as a whole. And of course, Assad has learnt the West see eye to eye with him on the issue of terrorism, a theme that he played up in his speech. His speech is about hardnosed evaluation of the inability of the international community to make any difference in the long-standing conflict. Indeed, all sanctions imposed on Syria by western powers have not yet been effective or enough to persuade Assad to change course.
Not surprisingly, Assad’s speech has left no hope for the revolutionaries. In other words, Assad offered no concrete concessions to meet the demand of revolutionaries who would most likely accept nothing less than ousting Assad. But also it has hardly help changing the situation. In essence, his lengthy speech has offered nothing to break the cycle of violence. Equally important, his speech may push western countries to step up pressures on Assad and regional supporters.
In a nutshell, the speech proved beyond doubt that Assad was not in touch with reality. Addressing an adulatory Parliament and scores of loyalists on Wednesday, Assad thought he was a strong leader who spoke from a position of strength. It remains to be seen whether his words of confidence are not misplaced. He probably needs to be reminded that his regime does not control all of Syria and that his military solution can no longer work amid the falling apart of Syria. Also his speech has convinced observers that if unchecked Assad will be a key part of the problem rather than being part of the solution.
—
Email: [email protected]
