A TWIST and a turn down a labyrinthine alleyway in the Old City leads to the door of the courtyard of an 18th-19th century house where a literature graduate lives in a rented room. On the walls are posters, clippings, a kelim rug, a bookshelf crammed with volumes. A divan, a bed and folding chairs provide places to sit, and a television tuned in to the BBC sits on a shelf.
Around the room sit a dozen friends gathered for a “Syrian breakfast” of bean stew, salad, hummus, and fresh bread – and discussion. The guests, in their 20s and 30s, include an architect from Homs, an insurance agent, a sociologist, a student and a woman engineer. A teacher arrives late.
They all fear Syria may be heading towards civil war and contend that dialogue is the “only option”. Yesterday’s meeting in Tunis has not encouraged optimism.
They regard the regime and the western-backed opposition in exile, the Syrian National Council (SNC), as “two sides of the same coin”. The regime, however, “is susceptible to pressure from its allies, Russia, China and Iran”, which seek dialogue, while those backing the SNC do not.
“The SNC is incapable of engaging in dialogue. It is the right wing of the opposition” which has liberal and leftist components both at home and abroad, they say.
“The SNC has not created people on the ground but has people here . . . who communicate with the SNC but not the other way around. The SNC simply wants to change one elite for another.”
Opposition groupings with a presence in Syria are the local co-ordination committees, which operate independently. “All don’t communicate with the SNC. Members of the internal opposition tried to marginalise the SNC,” which has a strong Muslim Brotherhood representation, by going to mosques to combat sectarianism. “But they were arrested by the regime.”
Five members of the gathering will vote No in the constitutional referendum on Sunday, one will boycott, and one will vote Yes. “The vote will not reflect opinion” in the country, they say. Cities “under fire” will not participate. But the constitution will be adopted because the document does not stipulate the percentage of the 14 million eligible voters needed to pass. They agree that the constitution should not state that the religion of the president should be Islam and that citizens should not be classified as “Arabs”.
“We have Kurds, Armenians and Circassians who are not Arabs” and the text says “all should be one before the law”. The group criticises the provision giving the interior ministry the right to “license” political parties – “register” would be appropriate – and articles granting the president command of the military, the power to appoint and fire prime ministers, and the right to enact legislation. “We want a parliamentary republic.”
The latecomer, a critic of the regime but supporter of the president, Bashar al-Assad, observes, “I support the army” in its efforts to crush the rebellion, but “once the critical period is over, people who are corrupt and violent must be judged”.
None believes the constitutional referendum, which has been largely ignored outside Syria, will have an impact on developments.
The situation in Syria has changed dramatically over the past year.
The man from Homs observes, “Before the uprising, youth engaged in political dialogue. Since the uprising, others had to join in. But still they do not discuss everything openly. While they have overcome fear, the culture of fear remains.”