DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM & NATIONAL UNITY

"The Damascus Spring is a pure media term with which the Syrian government does not deal. It only deals with reality,", "There are also other problems imposed on us from abroad, making us delay development projects and reverse priorities; mainly including Iraq war, Lebanon and terrorism,"

 From His Excellency Statements during His Kuwait Visit (June 4^th, 2008)

Democracy is “ a group of integrated  aspects, which to be developed altogether,  as a means for development, prosperity and construction.”

From HE’s Second  Presidential Term Inauguration Speech , ( July 17, 2007)

“I avail the meeting with you as to derive determination, power and firmness to the stances; there is no strong state, or a strong leader in the presence of a weak people. There is no fear for the future in the  Home which has people like the great Syrian Arab People; and any leader who shoulders the responsibility of such people should definitely in way fear any thing.”

  From H. E.’ s Speech to the Syrian Citizens in the Governorate of Deir Azzour, (April 30, 2007)

"Actually the democratic development has suffered from the serious setback recently especially after the war on Iraq. It's not only what you want to do. It's not only a matter of laws. You need the development of the society and you need the political atmosphere and you need the security. "

"The democracy in your country and in Europe is a result of long history. It didn't happen suddenly. So you can't talk about abrupt changes in our region. It's a matter of time, and it should go this way, but not according to Western standards -- unless we change our customs and habits. So it's going to be democracy, but according to our standards."

"Loyalty for the country is by not accepting foreign interferences from or by any embassy and I have always been clear on the subject or via any foreign government directly interfering with us,"

"Definitely, democracy is necessary for the entire world, but not in that context. If you want now to talk about the credibility of those who say such statements, let us take an example: If I look east I find Abu Ghreib, and if I look west I find Goantanamo. "

"What is the relation between democracy and occupying a country like Iraq? What is the relation between democracy and having five to six million Palestinians outside their country? There are many things that harm the credibility of those people. Yes, we need democracy but our democracy. And if you say what is the meaning of our democracy you have to go back to culture. It should be step by step and should be internal by dialogue among the people of this country and society, and the Middle East at large. Any imported democracy, regardless the will behind it, is going to be a failure."

"Is democracy more important than chaos? What is it based on? Is it based on better economy, on safety? What are the benefits of democracy if you don’t have the essential things in society? Democracy isn’t everything. It is a tool you use to have a better situation. You don’t use it to only say you are democratic. "

"Elections are the end result of democracy. Democracy is how people think and accept each other. In mixed societies like ours you would have different democracies than what you have in your country."

"We should also know a number of concepts. I use here what I said in my speech at the regional conference when we talked about national unity. How do we define national unity. We have examples in the region. There are nations that respect themselves which unite when they pass through a crisis, although they might have a thousand issues that they do not agree on. And there are nations in this region too which when they come under pressure and these pressures reach a crisis point they divide. Such nations do not respect themselves. One example, a person raises his voice in harmony with voices coming from outside his country and lowers it also in harmony with outside voices. This person belongs to the outside. How can he be a patriot and connected to the outside. Those who raise their voices should do that according to certain principles and according to national principles. Voices should be raised within the same house not in harmony with outside voices. I do not allow anyone to raise his voice from the outside and be called a patriot. We will deal firmly with unpatriotic cases, because these cause confusion at times of crises. "

"In the final analysis we support having different opinions. Openness and all these issues are moving but slowly perhaps. I do not claim that we are moving fast and have never said that. Some people say that the process of development was fast and then slowed down. I say it was slow from the beginning. To be realistic, it has never been fast. But we have no other choice but to move forward using our capabilities in order to enhance national unity. We do not differ from other societies. Patriotism or the lack of it exist everywhere. At times of crisis we have to control these cases with the objective of consolidating national unity as I said. "

"I would like to touch on a subject which has been raised in the media, which is the party law. Discussions of this law have started, but they will take a long time because of the sensitivity of this issue. Another issue is that of the census, because it was discussed during the regional conference. This issue was in fact settled in 2002, when I visited the city of Hasaka and met community leaders. The issue of the census was raised, and I said at the time that no one in Syria is opposed to solving this problem. It is a technical issue, and we started solving it in 2002 by studying the criteria put for solving the problem, i.e. granting the nationality. In the last stages there have been some details which were not finalized, until the events of March 2004 happened, and we thought there was a big problem. We discovered later that it was a passing ordinary problem. Political developments delayed this issue. Now there are authorities in the state which are putting the final touches and we will solve this issue soon in an expression of the importance of national unity in Syria. "

"We have to know that whatever we do, or try to achieve, needs a national and moral base to build our reform project on. If this country belongs to all its faithful sons and daughters, it could not belong to those who have rancor against it or those who play with its capabilities, those who see the national interest only through their own narrow interest and only remember the rights they are entitled to enjoy and forget their duties. We always talk about national unity, but we hear expressions like a conference for national reconciliation, as if we were feuding tribes in this country going out of a civil war. When we speak about consolidating national unity, it does not mean that this unity does not exist, because this means civil war. There are no half-solutions, but the national unity, like everything else, has standards and criteria, not necessarily in terms of numbers, but it depends on the national situation and it depends on every citizen. Since we are at the university, when two students pass, the first gets 48+2 and the second gets 90, the first student is not like the second. Both of them pass but there is a difference. When two students pass the secondary school certificate, a student gets 110 grades and the second gets 260, there is a difference. When we talk about enhancing national unity, we mean upgrading this unity so that it becomes a general and strong condition throughout the country. There is sometimes confusion between chronic cases and acute cases (doctors understand this here). Treatment of chronic cases is different from treatment of acute cases. Now we have a crisis, or a problem, or a difficult situation. Let us do this in order to overcome the crisis. I say this is wrong. If we arrive at a crisis and we have not done anything to overcome it before, then it is too late. Everything we do is for the future. These are remedies for future cases. As I said earlier, crises will never stop, because there is a plan moving in a certain direction against Syria and against the whole region. What we are doing now is preparing for future crises. We do not have to stick to a straw. We have to do things about whose results we are certain and use the capabilities that we possess today. This must be clear. Of course when such things are suggested, they are suggested in good faith because when we do something we need to know when to reap the results. "

"La rapidità è un concetto del tutto soggettivo. La verità è che abbiamo compiuto passi importanti. I nostri problemi si chiamano riforma burocratica e amministrativa, modernizzare un enorme carrozzone, cambiare la mentalità della gente, sostituire la creatività alla dedizione, estirpare la corruzione, che ha radici profonde. Ma come per ogni grande rivoluzione servono anni, almeno una generazione. Serve l'aiuto della comunità internazionale. E più di tutto mi preme conservare la stabilità sociale e politica del Paese. La modernizzazione può comportare un alto costo a scapito di ampi strati della popolazione".

"Potrei rispondervi che è meglio che ad Abu Ghraib e a Guantanamo, però è soltanto una facile battuta. Potrei dirvi dei mille e più prigionieri politici liberati, delle nuove riviste. Ma lo ammetto: abbiamo regole severe. Da sessant'anni viviamo in una situazione di costante pericolo, decenni di guerra, di ostilità di Paesi pronti a rovesciare i nostri regimi, anni di terrore. Non possiamo permetterci leggi normali. Almeno per ora".

"Riguardo ai dissidenti, io sono un uomo dalla mentalità molto aperta. Però non posso consentire che creino problemi. Non sono qui come un impiegato, devo occuparmi del mio Paese. Se a Hyde Park qualcuno attacca la regina, non succede niente. Ma se qui ad esempio qualcuno per strada inveisce contro i cristiani, il giorno dopo potrebbe scoppiare una guerra civile. Mi direte: è libertà di parola, ma così naufraga il Paese".

"I hope we can make better steps toward democracy in our country, but that takes time. But no one in Syria, or may be in the region if I want to exaggerate a little bit, asks for help from any country to have his own democracy." "I think before the war on Iraq some thought about this, but after the war they changed their minds. Only a little percentage of people used to think before the war that the war on Iraq would help democracy in the region. Most of them now think this is a bad example of bringing democracy. "

"Freedom and democracy are nothing but instruments, just like stability. The goal is called progress and growth. Anyone who puts freedom ahead of stability is hurting growth. Besides, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and Iraq aren't exactly models of freedom."

"The more meddling there is, the slower the pace of development in Syria. After all, the democratic process should pervade the entire country. Naturally, the unresolved Middle East conflict also slows down development. And then there is the question of what should be our greatest priority -- political development or economic growth."