Newly-elected Coalition Head should be Superman to mend rifts

By Abdullah Al Ghadawi; Translation by Yusra Ahmed

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The newly-elected president of Syrian National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, would face huge challenges, as he would manage a torn apart coalition that has many conflicts among its members, besides demands for improvement in performance for 2 years, Khoja was one of the keenest for amendment.

Khoja is close to Turkey, because of his Turkish origin, and he lives in Turkey that would pave the way for new cooperation channels with Turkey.

However, he would need support from members in the coalition to help him to get close to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the two most effective Arabic poles the Syrian crisis Khalid Khoja rejected re-electing Ahmed Jarba for the Coalition’s presidency, since then he tried to form bridges with opposition and forces inside Syria, but he did not succeed as a result of many national and international circumstances. Then he tries to make radical changes within the Coalition.

He has good relations with forces inside Syria, as his long residency away from Syria did not prevent him from keeping vital bridge with inner communities, which helped in supporting many fighting groups of national agendas.

Electing Khalid Khoja as president is beneficial especially in this difficult time of Syrian revolution, as he is considered a representative of the Syrian youth, who initiated the revolution. Besides his closeness of Turkey and decision-making circle which could help in keeping the revolution in good relation with a neighboring country, the most supportive one to Syrian refugees.

He may be able to unite the Turkish and Gulf attitudes toward the Syrian revolution which could prioritize the Syrian crisis on the international agenda.

Moreover, he has good communication with forces inside Syria, because he believes in the unity between forces inside and outside the country. Furthermore, he might be able to communicate with the Ministry of Defence Salim Idris and Ahmed Abdel Karim, the Head of Staff.

In regard to negotiation with the regime, Khoja is radical in this, since he considered negotiation with the regime as a betrayal to the sacrifices of Syrian people, because of that he rejected going to Geneva2, and considered it as a turn-over in the coalition’s attitude. Also, he refused to attend Moscow’s negotiations without a clear agenda and criteria.