Miqdad: Only "One" Way To Form Political Institutions of the State Is Elections
Monday December 15th, 2014 by Al-Watan (Pro-government newspaper)
Miqdad stressed that Syria is left with no other choice but the military solution against terrorism, while the political solution has become a "platform" to strengthen the internal front behind the Syrian army
With the renewed talk about political solutions for the crisis in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Miqdad, stressed that the only "one" peaceful constitutional way for the formation of the political institutions of the state is "through the preparation for the upcoming legislative elections" in 2016, as the majorities which will win the elections will "raise the foundation to control the subsequent stages of any political process according to the mechanisms of the constitution".
Noting that the failure of the coup and the mandate options in overthrowing the state in Syria, Miqdad stressed that Syria is left with no other choice but the military solution against terrorism, while the political solution has become a "platform" to strengthen the internal front behind the Syrian army.
Miqdad also stressed that this solution starts with "recognizing the danger of terrorism, and the existence of a state whose sovereignty depends on a constitution" preserved by the president "whose powers are enshrined in the constitution".
Miqdad warned in his weekly article published in Lebanese al-Binaa newspaper Sunday that the road to a political agreement is a matter of "free will", while the formation of political institutions "is conditioned by a third will, the will determined by the constitution as the source of authorities that comes from people".
Miqdad explained at the same time that "reaching a political agreement is achieved through one way, which is dialogue, (but) the agreement between the parties to form the political institutions of the state has more than one interpretation: the peaceful and sovereign way that depends on the mechanisms established by the constitution of the state. The second is through a coup or mandate, or a mixed form of them".
Miqdad pointed out that such a confrontation was before "terrorism – supported by the enemies of Syria – turns into a danger threatening our neighbors and the world. This required changing many of the rules that have governed the positions of internal and external parties involved in the crisis. With the occurrence of terrorism which thrived and reached a stage impossible to ignore, the reconsideration of old choices that made the disaster became inevitable, especially that all the parties involved in the Syrian crisis (have done) all what they could. Actually, they have tried all the evils possible to control Syria, in order to open the way for the coup or mandate options".
Miqdad added that "today, with the renewed talk about political solutions to the crisis in Syria, there is only one way, which is to prepare for the upcoming legislative elections as a peaceful and constitutional way for the formation of the political institutions of the state, and to consider the majority produced by these elections a basis which governs the subsequent stages of any political process according to the mechanisms of the constitution".
The deputy foreign minister explained that Damascus has no other choice but the military solution against terrorism, while the political solution became a "platform" to strengthen the internal front. Miqdad said that "the military solution in the beginning of the crisis (was) ceasing fire, which means marginalizing the military solution to prevent granting opportunities for the flow of terrorists. It was a prelude to sit down at the negotiations table. The state and its president have invited the dissidents to participate in these negotiations in order to reach an agreement through a constitutional and peaceful way to form the political institutions of the state. But those calls were rejected to test other options (a coup and mandate) which also failed."