It has been billed as the first step to establish a representative government while Syria has emerged for decades of a brutal dictatorship to a family.
But for some in Syria, the long -awaited “national dialogue” that ended on Tuesday evening remained very short of those promises. Instead, the two -day conference only added to the concerns about the opening of the new Islamist sovereigns of the country to create a truly inclusive political process.
“We have many objections on how it happened,” said Ibrahim Draji, professor of law at the University of Damascus who was among the hundreds of participants in the conference. “There is no transparency. There are no clear criteria for those who are invited, “he added.
“I have been a professor of law in the last 22 years and I can tell you that this is not a real national dialogue,” he said.
While the conference opened on Monday, the participants who gathered in the presidential palace in the capital, Damascus, had great hopes that were about to be part of a historical event and have a hand in modeling the new political chapter in Syria.
Months earlier, the rebellious coalition that seized the power after having expelled the long-date autocratic sovereign Bashar al-Assad had committed himself to establishing a representative government. The first step, they said, would have been a reference meeting in which the leadership figures from all over the country, together with victorious rebels, traced a different course for their fractured nation.
Despite these high objectives, the conference was organized quickly, with invitations sent only one day or two before it started. While the leaders of the community, the academics and the religious figures participated, key groups such as the Kurdish guidance militia supported by the United States that controls much of the north-eastern Syria have not been invited.
And the rebellious leaders said that the recommendations that the conference issued on Tuesday evening, including respect for personal freedoms and women’s rights, were not binding. It was not clear what the return would have had, if present, they would have had on the nascent government.
Syria is navigating an unimaginable transition period after being governed by the Assad family for more than 50 years. At the helm of that transition there is the provisional president, Ahmed al-Shara, whose rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led the offensive that overturned Mr. Al-Assad in early December.
Al-Shara is facing a dizzying series of challenges while Marshals a country whose delicate social fabric and economy were both destroyed during almost 14 years of civil war.
In many ways, the conference organized quickly on Tuesday reflects the priorities that are competing that Al-Shara is juggling while climbing to create a working government.
He is under pressure to quickly establish a government recognized internationally to strengthen his efforts in negotiating for the bad financial aid necessary by the international community. Many Arab and Western leaders have conditioned full links with the new government of Syria – including relief from the western sanctions that have left the economy in shreds – on the creation of an inclusive political process that reflects the ethnic and religious diversity of Syria.
The European Union, which raised some penalties in Syria after the rebels seized power, announced on Monday that was supporting further restrictions on the country’s banks and its energy and transport sectors. But European officials have said that relief will be reversed if the rebels constitute a government that is not consistent with the EU values.
The urgency to create a new government has produced Slapdash efforts, such as this week’s conference, which have reduced the legitimacy of the political process in the eyes of some Syrians both at home and abroad.
Many in Syria greeted the fall of the Assad dynasty with Euphoria, hoping that a more democratic era will inaugurate. While it expresses the political-a act that was once a death sentence-it is now possible, the expectations of many Syrians for radical change have been tempered in recent weeks since Mr. Al-Shara has consolidated most of the check of the government in his hands or those of those of those of those allied close.
“It seems that there has been a downgrading of their initial promises, what the new political process is and what the national dialogue would bring,” said Ibrahim al-Medil, Syrian contract professor of political sciences at the George Washington University.
“Our expectations were not very high, but what happened was even more disappointing of moderate expectations,” added dr. Al-Medil, who was not involved in dialogue.
However, some Syrians, exhausted for more than a decade of civil war and widespread destruction, say that any political involvement, however small, is a welcome change.
“We have not been involved in life or political life for over 50 years,” said Dana Shubat, 30 years old, ophthalmologist in Damascus.
“I’m not sure what I expected,” he added, “but at least people have the opportunity – even if it is small – express our opinions on the government”.
Responding to the criticisms of the conference, Hassan al-Daghim, spokesman for the preparation committee of the event, said in an interview that Tuesday sessions were only the beginning of what would be an in progress and inclusive political process that would “cause A vast group of experts.
So far, neither the preparatory committee nor Mr. Al-Shara offered a detailed plan to continue the dialogue, to process a new constitution or to create a transition justice system required by an audience looking for responsibilities for the crimes of the dictatorship.
Leaders “should not import systems that do not align with the situation in the country” or “implement political dreams that are not suitable,” said Al-Shara.
“Just as you accept this victory on our part, I kindly ask you to accept the methods used to reach it,” he added, referring to the approach of the rebels to the creation of a government since he seized power.
For many, those comments have been seen as a clear message: even if the next chapter in Syria is inclusive, it will be very different from the democratic reform that many have long dreamed of.
The participants in the conference also sentenced the recent foray of the Israeli army in southern Syria. Israel has launched new air attacks on military objectives south of Damascus on Tuesday evening, according to Israeli officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said in recent times that his country will not allow the presence of Syrian forces in the south of Syria, although it is not clear how the leadership to Damascus will answer this question.
The next great Tornasole map test for the new Syrian authorities will be in the next few days when Mr. Al-Shara should form a guardian government. That government will administer the country in the coming years until Syria will be able to keep elections.
His make-up-and if it includes representatives beyond the lealists of Mr. al-Shara-off will offer the next main clues about how he intends to govern.
The structure of the guardian government “will send a crucial message,” said Haneen Ahmad, activist for political and human rights in Damascus. “It will reflect the will of the current regime to be open and work with all the Syrians”.