- The external opposition accuses the regime of extending its control over the State and its organs; do not you think that some of their words are true?
According to them, authority is something and the State is something else. However, in my opinion, there might be some institutions, including security ones, which have irregular acts and this might be admitted by everyone, but they will not continue in this endlessly. There are laws that are going to be issued in the next phase relating to the security parties based upon which the powers of these services will be determined and their work will be adjusted. Also, there is a dialogue yet to come and a joint national charter that is to be established by authority sides, by home and abroad opponents, by representatives of civil society, and by independent people. The national dialogue is what will determine the shape of the State and the nature of authority in it.
I have put a plan on the work of the security services in Syria and I have introduced the government to some of them during the meetings of the Monitoring Committee for National Dialogue, and it has approved some of these items. We will post the rest of the initiative fully in the national dialogue, and some of the already approved items are identified with human rights, especially with regard to advertising the names of the detainees in the Interior Ministry building and the place of detention and the reason behind their arrest, as well as to allow the detainees to communicate with their families and to inform them about this.
- Despite this, you are being accused by the external opposition of engaging with the regime; how do you respond to that?
We are not engaged with the regime, but there are many errors that we are working to address, and we are discussing issues to make this country become better in a way better than that of a lot of those who accuse us of these false accusations. The National opposition is a national honest case and is at the same time a powerful tool used by the ruling regime in order to achieve justice and to promote confidence between the State and the citizen in general.
- Your absence from the political action in favor of your work in issues relating to the service and living conditions of the citizens is noticeable; are not you afraid of turning your role into something like civil or charitable organizations?
The current situation requires us to work on the political, the service and living levels of the citizens; we are primarily interested in the affairs of the citizen, and we are still considered remiss. We meet from time to time with the ministers of the government, including Economic Deputy Dr. Qadri Jamil, and we ask them to work on reducing the burden of living for citizens through controlling the prices, restraining their increase, and easing the social and living pressures for citizens. On the other hand, if truth is to be said, the State did not stop any month paying the salaries of the staff and workers working within it.
Recently, it was agreed to assign the general heads and secretaries of the parties as general inspectors of the State, and from now on we will perform our tasks accordingly, and we will work as much as possible in accordance with the interests of the citizens and with what serves them. We will also work to maintain the prices that have become cherished in a counterfeit way through the dealers who ask for excessive prices.
- What is your position on the acts of those?
We call for punishing them, and we know that the citizen is not in need for just calling acts as much as he/she is in need for practical steps. Hence, during the next phase we will punish those who are failures and are the traders of the crisis. The citizen is looking for a shelter, a loaf of bread, diesel for heating, and cooking gas in this crisis, but in fact there are things not shown by the media i.e. that the armed terrorist gangs are targeting trucks and transports carrying fuel, gas and living needs to citizens.
Within the party, we took practical steps in this direction by contributing to distribute diesel fuel to citizens, especially the peasants with the official rate, and the same goes for ethylene gas, gasoline and others, and we are providing some citizens with things they need through the assistance of relief sides in the government, NGOs and charities in the community.
- You defend President Bashar al-Assad in most of your positions, and he is considered the top of the pyramid in the ruling regime, and at the same time you are not engaged with the regime; how can you explain this?
We in the party do not disagree with President Bashar al-Assad in his orientations, but we disagree with the government, especially with things relating to the living conditions of the citizens in this crisis as I have mentioned. We refute the government’s mistakes to help it succeed in its work, and we complain against the ministers because of their wrong practices, and one of the ministers came out of the government in the recent cabinet reshuffle due to these complaints.
- What about punishing those who are errant and doing wrong at work?
We call the higher authorities to do so if there are proof papers found. We have verbal acts that contain some errors, and we demand the ministers to give more time to communicate with the citizens, to be more dynamic when dealing with them, and do their work more than ever.
- How do you see the next stage?
Syria will remain to be Syria; we will live and die on its soil, and we will have our mark in getting out of this crisis. Our larger goal as a political party and as a member of the National Democratic opposition bloc is to work for the success of the national dialogue in Syria, and we will work to instill confidence in the external opposition to come to the country. The initiative of President Assad and the program of the political solution were launched and our role will be to ensure the success of this solution. We will have activities in the next few days in cultural centers in various Syrian provinces to explain the initiative and its steps, and there will be a national dialogue that is to be held with the presence of those who attend later this month, and we strive to hold an inclusive and transparent one later on.
