National Coalition to choose a consensus president

  

 Syrian National Coalition will adopt the principle of interoperability, rather than elections in coalition, according the prominent Coalition member, Abdul Baset Saida said in an interview with "Zaman Alwasl.

The coalition met on Thursday under pressure to name a new leader and prove to its Western and Arab backers it can be trusted with advanced weapons to beat back a concerted offensive by Bashar al-Assad.Reuters quoted.

The Coalition Executive Bureau member assured Coalition decision to avoid any nominations or elections would raise cracks among the coalition ranks. Also, he denied any internal differences among coalition members. ''What we have is no more than differing views''.

The Kurdish and former president of Syrian National council emphasized about an urgent solution, saying: "If we are unable to reach a consensus on the name, we will resort to the election, and we hope that it won't happen.''

The selection of new coalition President will be delayed tomorrow, ''Today we discussed the reports which had come from Syria, '' Saida revealed

''There is no doubt that the development of the fighting field is the first obsession, gaining more victories By the Assad regime on the ground will affect any political representation in the future.   

The opposition's inability to unite has made Western countries reluctant to send weapons, even as Assad's forces have seized the initiative in recent months and Washington and its European allies have vowed to aid his enemies. Reuters reported.

The Syrian National Coalition has been without a leader since last March when Mouaz al-Khatib made a surprise announcement that he was stepping down as president of the coalition. Although he gave no reason at the time, he later talked of interference by international and regional actors; the interviewer named these as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The coalition refused al-Khatib's resignation. Khatib was still considered the "primary voice" of the Syrian opposition, and the following day the Arab League granted Khatib the position to head the coalition's delegation to the Arab League. He continued in office for almost another month before confirming his resignation on 21 April.

The United States and Russia, Assad's main weapons supplier, have proposed a "Geneva 2" peace conference but their deadlock over Syria has meant little progress on the diplomatic front.

After steady rebel gains in the first two years of civil war, Syria became stuck in a bloody stalemate lasting months until a June government offensive that led to the capture of a strategic border town. Momentum now looks to be behind Assad.

Syria's two-year uprising against Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than four decades, began as peaceful protests but became militarized after an army crackdown.

The rebels remain strong in the north of Syria, but Assad has been slowly reinforcing his forces there in the hope of retaking territory. Fierce fighting is raging around several cities in central Syria and near the capital.

Assad's counter-offensive led the United States to announce last month military support for the opposition, a move it said would restore the balance of power ahead of any peace talks.

The 27-month-long conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives, the Human Rights Observatory announced Wednesday.  The war has also driven 1.7 million refugees to seek shelter in neighboring countries and is turning into a proxy conflict for Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim powers in the Middle East.

 

 

In relevant development, Actor Jamal Suleiman had resigned from National Coalition, 'Zaman Alwasl Arabic' reported.

The New member of latest-expanding list has delivered a message to the former President of coalition, Sheikh Mouaz al-Khatib on Wednesday.

''Decisions of the coalition doesn't comply with convictions'' Suleiman addressed.

According to "Zaman Alwasl" source Suleiman wasn't satisfied with the Coalition agenda and framework. He preferred to stay out of it.

The national Coalition was expanded its seats with more 8 members in May including Michel Kilo, Farah Atassi and Jamal Suliman.

 It's worth mentioning that Zaman Alwasl was the first news outlet publishing suleiman nomination for Coalition.

 

Coalition short History

At its creation in November 2012 the National Coalition elected Moaz al-Khatib as its president, Riad Seif and Suheir Atassi as vice-presidents and Mustafa Sabbagh as secretary-general.

  The coalition has a council of about 63 members, including 22 members from the Syrian National Council. Ghassan Hitto is the prime minister of a provisional government for Syria that is being formed by the coalition.

On 24 March 2013 Moaz al-Khatib made a surprise announcement that he was stepping down as president of the coalition. Although he gave no reason at the time, he later talked of interference by international and regional actors; the interviewer named these as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The coalition refused al-Khatib's resignation. Khatib was still considered the "primary voice" of the Syrian opposition, and the following day the Arab League granted Khatib the position to head the coalition's delegation to the Arab League. He continued in office for almost another month before confirming his resignation on 21 April.

The main aims of the National Coalition are replacing the Bashar al-Assad government and "its symbols and pillars of support", "dismantling the security services", unifying and supporting the Free Syrian Army, refusing dialogue and negotiation with the al-Assad government, and "holding accountable those responsible for killing Syrians, destroying Syria, and displacing Syrians.

 

 

Reporting by Lma Shammas -Editing by Mohamed Hamdan

 

Zaman Alwasl-Istanbul
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