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Political columnist: Assad can make amends by promoting democracy

By Ryan Campbell

Posted on Nov. 17, 2011, at 12:07 a.m.

On Nov 12, the Arab League voted to suspend Syria from further involvement with the Arab-state coalition until the bloodshed soaking the country ceases.

Just days after the announcement, King Abdullah II of Jordan called for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down.

“Whenever you exert violence on your own people, it is never going to end well,” Abdullah said, the first Arab leader to call for Assad’s resignation.

There is no doubt that Assad’s violence against his own people is an atrocious act against humanity, but is the immediate resignation of Assad the best option for Syria and the rest of the Arab world?

Assad has to be removed from power — but a quick transition of power is not in Syria’s best interest, especially if those dying are doing so in the name of democracy and transparency.

As we’ve seen in the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan, democracy can take a lot of time to implement. It’s not just a system of elections; democracy requires an entire shifting of the national thought process.

Yes, elections are necessary, but they’re not sufficient. Institutions need to be put in place, the market economy needs to be redefined and corruption needs to be erased. All these things take time, and a quick replacement of Assad doesn’t ensure that Syrians will be better off.

While the majority of the population in Syria is Sunni, there is still a significant population of Shiites, namely President Assad himself, as well as millions of Iraqi refugees.

Iran, a Shiite-dominant country and home for Shiite terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, will undoubtedly lobby for Assad to stay in power. In the instance he is ousted, Hezbollah and Iran will probably do whatever it takes to maintain their influence in the region.

Any skeptic of religion’s role in the matter should look at the Arab League voting results.

All but three countries voted for Syria’s suspension: Lebanon, which is run by the terrorist group Hezbollah; Yemen, which has close ties to Iran and is nearly 50 percent Shiite; and Iraq, which abstained from the vote (most likely for the reasons mentioned above).

If anything, Assad’s refusal to step down is giving appropriate and much-needed time for his opposition to centralize itself.

While Assad’s resignation remains unlikely, concessions might be a more viable option, especially in light of Turkey’s call for Assad’s resignation. Turkey, currently supplying Syria with power, has threatened to cut them off.

Contrary to what the media and some international organizations have been saying, Assad does have a place in Syria and is a necessary part for the country’s transition to democracy.

Assad needs to open up the floor to dialogue and create a committee dedicated to a new constitution and election policies. I’m sure Assad would like to live peacefully in Syria to a ripe age, but at this rate, Assad’s fate will be similar to that of Mubarak, or even Gaddafi.

History will remember Assad as the stubborn tyrant who killed 3,500 of his own people, but he still has the opportunity to save face and show the world that democracy can exist in the Middle East.

The time for amends is now.

Ryan Campbell is a fourth-year political science student. His columns will appear every Thursday.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2011, 12:07 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.