The elections and the rise of the Syrian strength

The tendency

The elections and the rise of the Syrian strength

May 7 is the day on which Vladimir Putin will be giving his inauguration speech as the president of the Russian Federation while at the head of the Russian nationalistic and global revival that is alarming the Western colonial alliance. That same day will witness the Syrian legislative elections after President Bashar al-Assad decided to proceed with the reform and renewal process in parallel to the fighting of terrorism and the deployment of steadfastness in the face of the global war led by the Western colonial alliance with the participation of regional powers, namely the agents of the West in the Gulf, in Turkey and Lebanon. In short, it is the date of the rise of the independent and resisting Syrian strength.

Firstly, the legislative elections will mark the peak of major constitutional and legal transformations led by President Al-Assad to instate a new pluralistic political regime in the country, one whose content was conveyed by the constitution which was recognized by the vast majority of the Syrian people during the referendum. It also marks the peak of the determination to stage the elections, which expresses a strong national will in leading the political transformation in the country and abstaining from succumbing to the terrorist sabotage plan being led by Syria’s enemies who are providing the powerful gangs with funds, weapons and a political cover.

Secondly, the course of the Syrian events has clearly revealed that the wave of terrorism has always lurked political reform in order to prevent its implementation. The powers involved in the plan to destroy the Syrian strength and prevent national political dialogue tried - through the suicide attacks which targeted Damascus, Aleppo and Edlib and through the consecutive assassination operations - to sabotage the electoral process. This reached the point where the gangs addressed public threats saying that they will kill the candidates. Despite that, the number of those running in the May 7 elections exceeded 7,000 over 250 parliamentary seats, which means that an average of 28 candidates are running over each parliamentary seat. This ratio is quite high at the level of participation in political life, conveying political and representational plurality within the Syrian society, whether from within the new political parties or among the social figures and dignitaries.

Thirdly, following the elections, Syria will be entering a new phase at the level of the restructuring of the authorities’ constitutional institutions, starting with the new parliament and the formation of an expanded national partnership government in a climate of media and political plurality. The winners and the losers in these elections will be part of the internal political action and we will witness the emergence of new and additional movements, gatherings and political parties during the next stage. May 7, will mark an important turn at the level of Syria’s recovery from the crisis and the strengthening of the foundations of the new stage in Syria’s national life. The next stages will be dedicated to the handling of the repercussions of the global war and the containment of its effects through the enhancement of national unity, the reconstruction of what was destroyed by the terrorist gangs, the ending of social and economic marginalization in some rural areas and the drafting of the new economic inclinations whose headlines were recently drawn up by President Al-Assad.

Fourthly, the revival of the Syrian strength will be the main axis of the national solidarity expressed by the Syrians throughout the past year. The Syrian national state will thus liquidate the pits of terrorism and dismantle the sabotage networks established by the global alliance, which will be a long process that will require the Syrians to show steadfastness and patience and to rally around the state, its institutions and its army until stability is fully restored in the entire country, following the dangerous earthquake it has vanquished.

The resisting, independent and renewed Syria with the will of its people and the leadership of its resisting president will conquer via the ballot boxes while defying terrorism and threats with death to ensure a new life for a great nation which has always constituted the unique jewel of the East.

News analysis

The resisting Syria and the facets of the new world

The world is witnessing the birth of new balances following the defeat of the project of the American empire which was built on the strategy of strength to prevent the rise of competing superpowers and subjugate the independent regional forces. From Damascus and from the East, the equations which were heralded by Western researchers and experts have started to emerge, knowing that the latter spoke about the move of the global wealth from the West to the East and the rise of new regional and international powers following the defeat of the American colonial project that reached its peak during the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and the wars on Lebanon and Gaza. These are the four ventures led by the United States in partnership with NATO, Israel, and the Gulf governments affiliated with them. A year and a half into the global war on Syria, one can detect the following signs:

Firstly, the changing of the picture within the Security Council via the Syrian gate. Indeed, for the first time since Khrushchev stepped into the United Nations - which has become an American colony in the times of unilateral hegemony - Russia emerged as an initiating strength controlling the formulation of international resolutions and the drafting of their mechanisms and follow-up on the field. This was seen in the Security Council’s presidential statement and the resolutions that followed in regard to Annan’s plan, all of which were subjected to the conditions of Syrian national sovereignty while preventing the hideous American infiltration. This complemented the deterrence balance which was established by the double Chinese-Russian veto that prevented the issuance of a resolution providing a cover for a war on Syria. The Russian dynamism relied on the steadfastness of the Syrian people, army, state and leader and their stand in the face of any foreign attack with the recognition of the American and Western military commanders and officials, who are testifying for the cohesion of the Syrian state and army and the mounting popularity of President Bashar al-Assad amid the disputes erupting between the Syrian opposition movements, the armed gangs and their takifri and terrorist cells that are embraced by the international regional alliance implicated in the war on Syria. In the meantime, the Western leaders are stressing the fear of seeing the eruption of a major war which might threaten Israel, as the result of any attack on Syria. At this level, a prominent French official revealed that the deployment of the terrorism tools via military and security intervention and media campaigns is due to the inability to wage direct war.

Secondly, the advancement of the BRICS group on the international arena. Indeed, this bloc has strongly emerged on the map of international political balances via the Syrian gate, after its role was limited during the last few years to actions it staged as an economic bloc negotiating over energy issues, international trade agreements and other financial and economic affairs throughout the world. The BRICS group thus headed toward the drafting of its vision for the future of international relations through calls for permanent seats at the Security Council for India, Brazil and South Africa alongside Russia and China. This means that qualitative change will be witnessed at the level of the United Nations’ balances alongside BRICS calls for the amendment of the structures and functions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and the disbandment of the World Trade Organization that was formed by American hegemony under the cloak of globalization. What is noticeable is that these demands were featured in a statement issued by the Vatican that was prompted by the Syrian events.

Thirdly, the rallying of the Eastern and Western Churches in the face of the American and Western adoption of tafkir and extremism. The transformation of the global perception of the American and Western policy, its exposed hypocrisy and criminal content through the revival of takfir and terrorism in partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar to tear the region apart, is a development which emerged owing to the national unity of the Syrian people in the face of the global war, through their insistence on their identity and the resistance and independence option. Hence, the Christian and Muslim religious leaders respected the popular climate, at a time when the armed gangs supported by the West were committing massacres against the Christian and Muslim citizens and fueling sectarian and religious strife. This allowed the emergence of the issue of the Christian presence in the East and the great threat facing the region’s social fabric. Vatican cooperated with the Eastern Christian positions and ties were created between the Christian Church of Antakya, the Moscow Orthodox Papacy and the Catholic Church in Rome based on the perception of the Syrian national state led by President Bashar al-Assad as being an Eastern archetype which previously hosted the Christians of Iraq who were displaced by the acts of takfir and extremism under the American occupation and auspices. Previously, it had protected Lebanon’s Christians against persecution and the sectarian displacement project, thus freeing the Vatican from the era of American monopoly and allowing the Church to have a more balanced vision of international reality.

Fourthly, the recognition of the Iranian superpower. After thirty three years of blockade, sanctions and ongoing intelligence wars, the United States was forced –following its defeat in the face of Syria’s steadfastness- to recognize the rising Iranian power. During the last few years, it has sought opportunities to engage in negotiations with Iran but was wagering on moving its attacks towards it in case it is able to win the war on Syria. The recognition of the Iranian strength - amid attempts to demarcate the maps of influence and interests - will be the content of the upcoming round of negotiations in Baghdad. Hence, the Iranian power which is allied with partners in the region in the context of the resistance system, namely the strategic ally Syria alongside Russia, China and the other BRICS member states, is winning an important round after a long period of struggle due to Syria’s steadfastness and resistance and the failure of the global war on it.

The new world is emerging from Syria, along with a new international equation. At this level, what is being done by the United States, its allies in the West and affiliate governments in the Gulf and Turkey, aims at obstructing this birth, at delaying the recognition and at containing the dangerous costs of these transformations on colonial interest and Israel’s presence, with the victory of those opposing colonial hegemony at the level of setting new precedents in the context of international relations.

News analysis

Who are they and why?

The political despair vis-à-vis the armed frenzy has become clear. Nonetheless, the state of frenzy affecting the armed groups in all of Syria’s provinces is raising a new question: who are the latter and why are they going through this state of insanity?

The first component of the armed men is represented by the supporters of the Istanbul Council and especially the Muslim Brotherhood group. The latter are aware of the fact that the train of the political settlement which will be launched in parallel to dialogue will end with the ballot boxes that will expose the size of their representation.

The second component includes the groups of Takfiri extremism, at the head of which is Al-Qaeda organization and its program to implicate the Syrians in anarchy and violence. The latter group does not want truce.

The third component, which is the most prominent one, it mainly includes ordinary criminals among smugglers, bandits, thieves and outlaws who know what awaits them with the discontinuation of the violence.

As to the fourth component, it is very limited in size and includes the remnants of the so-called Free Army and who are maintaining their role by hiding behind the actions of the other armed men.

Among all of these groups, the Qatari, Saudi and Turkish intelligence apparatuses have networks which they are funding and arming after they lost hope in playing any role at the level of Syria’s future and became convinced that the end of the crisis in Syria will mark the beginning of their own. They are in a state of despair and insanity, but they will not change Syria’s fate.

Arab affairs

Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree granting general amnesty for for all penalties provided in some articles of the Military Service Law and Military Penal Code. In the meantime, the preparations are underway for the staging of the first People’s Assembly elections which will be held next Monday in accordance with the new law. General Robert Mood, the head of the UN observers’ mission to Syria, stated: “The goal is to work with all the sides to implement Kofi Annan’s six-point plan. I call on everyone to end the violence and help us sustain the discontinuation of the armed violence. Together we can achieve that and this option is on the table.”

In the meantime, a terrorist group claimed responsibility for the explosion of a booby-trapped car in Damascus in the Al-Marja neighborhood early on. In a statement posted on its website, the terrorist extremist group which is connected to Al-Qaeda organization and dubs itself the Al-Nosra Front, claimed responsibility for the attack after it had previously claimed responsibility for terrorist explosion operations in Damascus and Aleppo, including the terrorist explosions seen in the Al-Midan neighborhood last Friday and the two terrorist explosions in Damascus on March 17 among others.

For its part, Russia condemned the terrorist operations in Syria and assured they aimed at thwarting Annan’s mission. It assured, along with Tehran, that it was necessary to settle the crisis in a peaceful way and via internal national dialogue. In the meantime, Russian deputy foreign minister and the Russian president’s special envoy to the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, stressed the presence of destructive forces in the Syrian opposition, ones which did not want reform and were aware of the fact that they could not reach power via the elections.

Egypt

The Al-Abassiya square in downtown Cairo witnessed the death of three Egyptians and the wounding of hundreds of others in clashes that erupted around the Defense Ministry between demonstrators and unidentified armed elements. The Al-Abassiya square has been witnessing marches including thousands of citizens, political activists and members of the various movements. Following the clashes, marches were mobilized from various areas in Cairo to show solidarity with the demonstrators and demand the departure of the military council. The military police and security elements imposed a siege around the Defense Ministry building and the headquarters of the army units, commands and branches in Cairo. The union of the Egyptian revolution youth accused the council of having killed Egypt’s best youth in the Al-Abassiya events and before that in the Maspero, Mohammad Mahmud, Cabinet headquarters and Port Said incidents. On Friday, violent clashes erupted between the demonstrators and the military, which prompted the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to impose a curfew around the Defense Ministry starting at 11pm on Friday until 7am on Saturday, stressing the adoption of legal measures against those who instigated the Al-Abassiya clashes.

Palestine

The number of Palestinian detainees who went on hunger strike has neared two thousand, at a time when the Israeli occupation authorities isolated a number among them. On the other hand, the Palestinian street is still showing solidarity with the latter detainees who have been staging a hunger strike for eighteen days, thus organizing ongoing and escalating activities. At this level, death is still threatening those detainees, especially Bilal Ziab and Thaer Halahila.

Israeli file

The anticipation of the Knesset elections until next September carried repercussions on the Israeli political arena. Indeed, the news occupied the front pages of the papers issued this week and as a result, the papers intensified their polls. Hence, Haaretz expected Netanyahu to be supported by 48%, while Yediot Aharonot’s poll showed that the Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu will earn 30 seats and that the Kadima party headed by Mofaz will only get eleven.

In a related context, Yediot Aharonot expected the prime minister to reach an agreement with the extremist religious Jewish parties, stipulating their recanting of their refusal to see the elections held on September 4. Moreover, Tzipi Livni’s resignation from Knesset also occupied the headlines, in addition to the fiery statements issued by former Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer in regard to the relations between Egypt and Israel, his relationship with Field Marshal Tantawi and the annulment of the gas deal. He thus stated that Israel must be prepared for a possible military confrontation with Egypt in the near future, adding that this expected confrontation was bound to take place and that the Israeli army must prepare for it.

Lebanese file

The government’s commissioner to the military court, Judge Sakr Sakr, ordered the arrest of the crew that was on the Lutfallah II vessel which was loaded with weapons. The latter crew included eleven people of various Arab and foreign nationalities, all of whom are being interrogated on charges of transporting weapons to Syria. In a related context, Speaker Nabih Berri said that the attempt to smuggle weapons via the intercepted ship was extremely dangerous, indicating that this ship was certainly not smuggling these weapons to angels. The army command had announced that an army’s unit intercepted –off the Northern shores of Lebanon - the commercial ship Lutfallah II which was raising the flag of Sierra Leone. It thus searched it with the participation of the relevant sides and found three containers which were carrying massive quantities of heavy, middle-weight and light weapons and ammunition, in addition to a plethora of military equipment. President Michel Suleiman stressed that Lebanon was not a base for the launching of operations against Syria or for arms smuggling operations, considering that this act was a crime condemned by all the parties and that the smuggling of arms to the Syrian opposition was a double crime that should not be the object of any leniency.

In the South, Israel launched the construction of the separation wall on the border with Palestine between Kfar Kela and the Fatima gate.

The General Workers’ Union staged a strike throughout the country on Thursday. For its part, the Lebanese communist party organized a demonstration on Wednesday, one which roamed the streets of the capital and reached the government’s house in rejection of the policy of impoverishment and starvation practiced by the authority.

Iranian Vice President Doctor Mohammad Riza Rahimi met with President Michel Suleiman and delivered a written letter from President Mahmud Ahmadinejad inviting the Lebanese president to the conference of the non-aligned states which will be held in the Iranian capital Tehran. President Suleiman praised the good relations between the two countries and stressed their ongoing cooperation.

In the government house, the higher joint Lebanese-Iranian committee met under Rahimi’s and Mikati’s chairmanship and witnessed the signing of three executive programs for prior memorandums of understanding in the industrial sector.

Assistant American Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and member of the armed forces committee at the American Senate Joseph Lieberman met with Deputy Walid Jumblatt in Clemenceau upon their arrival to Beirut. As-Safir quoted leading sources in the Progressive Socialist Party as saying that during his meeting with Jumblatt, Feltman focused on two issues: the preservation of calm in Lebanon and the helping of the Syrian refugees. On the other hand, As-Safir has learned that during Feltman’s meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri, the latter stressed Lebanon’s insistence on its maritime border in light of the Israeli violations, indicating that Lebanon was insisting on investing in the entire economic zone that belonged to it, and had no intention of relinquishing any part of that area.

As to Senator Joseph Lieberman, he visited the Northern Lebanese border with Syria along with a delegation that accompanied him on his tour. However, the real goals behind his visit remained the object of many doubts and speculations.