May 17, 2012

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria deplores the situation of the Syrian National Council. The situation reflects the Council and the Opposition’s furthering from the spirit and demands of the Syrian Revolution. Furthermore, it reflects their distance from directions towards a civil state, democracy, transparency and the transfer of power desired in a New Syria.

In recent months, we have witnessed apparent political deficits in the Syrian National Council and a lack of consensus between the Council and the revolutionary movement. Furthermore, the council continues to marginalize a majority of the representatives of the revolutionary movement such as members of the Council’s General Assembly. This is accounted for by influential individuals on the Executive Board and the General Secretariat deciding on major factors, the most recent decision being the extension of Burhan Ghalioun’s presidency for a third consecutive term despite his political and organizational failure.

We at the Local Coordination Committees have refrained from engaging in Council work in the past two months, the most recent of which was the Secretariat General’s meeting in Rome. We find in the continued deterioration of the Council’s situation an impetus for further steps, the first of which may be a freeze in our activity and the final step, our withdrawal from the Council. These steps will be taken in the event that the Council’s errors are not reviewed and demands are not addressed. We consider these demands necessary for the reformation of the Council and have included them in a detailed letter to the Council that we presented over a month ago. In addition to lack of seriousness in dealing with dire issues, they have also marginalized the demands of the Revolutionaries in Syria.

Finally, the Local Coordination Committees in Syria confirms that the continuity of the Revolution, the committees, and the peaceful demonstrations on the ground are important inside Syria and are held to the high ethical standards of the great Revolution. We emphasize the sacrifices of our heroes in the Free Syrian Army, who defected to defend the cities being bombarded by the regime’s military and we admire their commitment to protect the peaceful demonstrators despite the difficulties they face. We emphasize that the Revolution will go on, despite the harsh difficulties experienced by our people and activists, and despite the international and global conspiracies against our people’s aspirations, and despite the Syrian opposition’s incompetency for the blood and sacrifices of our people, not only in the sense of political representation, but in also in the sense of providing much needed relief.