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Full Speech Of President al-Assad

President Bashar al-Assad reiterated here Monday that Syria’s option is to look forward into the future and to control the events rather than to be led by them.

In a speech to the citizens at Damascus University Auditorium, President al-Assad said “Credibility has formed the basis of the relation between the People and me, the credibility which has been built on deeds and not words, on substance and not on form,” describing today’s meeting as coming in a decisive moment in the history of Syria as to separate a yesterday, burdened with confusion, pain, and innocent blood, and tomorrow filled with hope.

President al-Assad added that Syria has witnessed ‘difficult days’ during which a big price from our security, stability and growth was paid because of killing operations, and terrifying the citizens, destroying public and private properties, which took place during popular protests in which scores of citizens, security forces, policemen and armed forces were martyred or wounded; ‘‘ this is a big loss for their families, Syria, and a heavy loss for me personally.”

President al-Assad prayed to God to grant all martyrs mercy and forgiveness, offering their families and relatives heartfelt condolences.

“Our only option is looking towards the future… we possess this option when we decide to make the future rather than have events make it… when we control it rather than it controls us… we lead rather than it leads us,” President al-Assad said, noting that this requires building upon a rich experience that showed shortcomings and a deep analysis.

President al-Assad asserted that Syria, throughout all of its history has been facing conspiracies against it for several reasons, some of which are linked to Syria’s important geographic and political status and others are linked to its political stances committed to its principles and interests.

“Conspiracies are like germs which increase every moment,” said President Al-Assad asserting that the solution is to enforce the immunity of our bodies investigating the domestic points of weakness as to repair them and that the solution is to sort our problems out by ourselves.

President al-Assad classified the components of what is going on in the street into three categories: the first who have a need, a demand from the State, which is the duty of the Stat to meet, the second is a number of breakers of law and wanted for justice, and the third is those who have an extremist thinking.

”What is going on in the street has three components the first one people who have needs and they want the state to fulfill them, the second component is represented through the outlaws and the wanted due to different criminal cases and they found that state institutions are a target for them because these institutions stand in the face of their interests and because they were dismissed from them so chaos for them a golden chance that they should seize to remain free and boost their illegal acts,” added President al-Assad.

“The third component is the most dangerous despite of being small and it is represented through those who have the Takfiri extremist ideology which we have experience for decades when it tried to sneak to Syria and it could get rid of it due to its people’s awareness and wisdom.”

“We do not find today that the Takfiri ideology is different from that we saw in the past decades but what has changed is the tools, methods and faces…this sort of ideology lies in the dark corners and it immediately appears once it has an opportunity and once it finds a mask. It kills in the name of religion, it sabotages in the name of reform and it spreads chaos in the name of freedom and that is why the escalation and chaos were the correspondent to every reform step announced or achieved and when justifications were lost, the use of weapons was the only choice for them to carry out the scheme,” al-Assad pointed out.

“What we need to think about is more important than analysis regarding the conspiracy, because I don’t believe that information will show all details soon, possibly not even in years, but some say that there is no conspiracy and this discourse is not subjective, not in regards to the crisis but rather in terms of the circumstances, history and the historic context of Syria,” President al-Assad said, pointing out to the blatant foreign political stances in their pressure against Syria and the attempts to interfere in internal affairs not for the sake of the Syrian citizens, but rather to reach a goal that is already known.

“What do we say about these political stances? What do we say about the media pressure and the advanced phones that we’re finding in Syria in the hands of saboteurs? What do we say about the falsification that we all witnessed?” President al-Assad added.

President al-Assad pointed out that met several delegations, some of them representing protestors while others hailed from all regions and spectrums, stressing that distinction must be made between these people and the saboteurs.

He said that saboteurs are a small but effective group that attempted to exploit others and took advantage of the good majority of the Syrian people to achieve several goals, stressing the importance of distinguishing between the two groups, noting that the first group is national and all the demands they relayed to him gave the homeland’s interest priority, saying “they want participation, not to be marginalized, and justice.”

President al-Assad pointed out that the recent pardon was the most comprehensive one for 23 years, with the last similar pardon being in1988, and that despite that there is desire for pardon to be more comprehensive, adding that pardon doesn’t take names into consideration but rather standards, pardoning everyone except crimes related to drugs, terrorism, armed insurgence and moral issues and similar crimes.

“Despite that, and based on what I heard from a number of people and what I learned from other people I didn’t meet, I will ask the Ministry of Justice to study the margin in which we can expand the pardon even if it needs another decree that covers others without threatening the interest and security of the state on one side, and at the same time without harming the interests of citizens regarding personal rights of citizens,” President al-Assad said.

The President pointed out that seeking to enforce law doesn’t exempt us from seeking social solutions that would deter people from making wrong decisions by motivating them to be good citizens that are integrated in society.

“The question may be the number of these people… personally, I was surprised by this number as I had beloved it to be a few thousands before… at the beginning of the crisis, the number was over 64,000… imagine this number of wanted people for various cases whose sentences range from a few months in prison to execution, and they are loose,” President al-Assad said, noting that the current number is now a little less than 63,000 as some of them turned themselves in.

“64,000, more or less, equals in military terms five military divisions, which is almost an entire army… if a few thousands of these wanted to bear arms and commit acts of vandalism, you can imagine the amount of damage they can do to the state,” the President added.

“There are other components… I didn’t discuss the external component and its role in the crisis and I didn’t discuss the components we all know… there are people being paid to record and deal with the media… others are paid to participate in protests for minutes and be recorded… these components don’t concern us much,” President al-Assad said, noting that by following the events, escalation and chaos were the answer to each reform step that was announced or achieved, and when they had no more excuses they resorted to the use of weapons to carry out their plot, sometimes using peaceful protest as cover for armed groups, and sometimes staging attacks and assassination.

“Schools and shops and public roads were closed by force of arms… public property was vandalized, looted and burned… cities were cut off from each other by cutting off main roads connecting them, and all this represents a direct threat to the daily lives of citizens, their security, education, economy, and their communication with their families,” he added.

President al-Assad said “When they failed in the first stage when they attempted to exploit the people with demands, they moved to a new form of action that they began in Jisr al-Shughour when they committed the atrocious massacres was saw through the media… they murdered security personnel… destroyed post offices that belong to the people and the city they live in… there is great malice… the point is they had advanced weapons that weren’t available before and advanced communications equipment.”

“They tried to commit another massacre in Maaret al-Nuuman against a security detachment and almost succeeded if not for the intervention of the townspeople who protected the detachment in their homes… some of them paid the price when they were tortured and beaten and had their bones broken… I salute those who made this patriotic stance and I wish to meet them soon,” President al-Assad added.

”In some cases, peaceful marches were taken as a cover where gunmen hide behind. In other cases , the gunmen attacked civilians, policemen and military members through attacking some military spots or sites or through committing assassination operations,” said President al-Assad asserting that ”Those who have the Takfiri ideology not only distorted the image of homeland outside but also called for foreign interference and tried to weaken the political national stance which is adherent to restoring all the national rights fully.”

President al-Assad said “The response to owners of the extremist ideologycame from the Syrian people who moved quickly to prove again their nationalawareness which exceeds all expectations in light of the unprecedentedpresumptive campaign.”

President al-Assad added what is happening now by some bodies have noconnection with reform and development… what is going on is a mere sabotageand as there is more vandalism as we move away from our developmental targetsand aspirations,” asserting that “We should mend what was damaged and we shouldrehabilitate the saboteurs or isolate them, then we can continue the development.

President al-Assad added I felt the love of this people who frequently granted me his honesty and support.. and strength and continuity in our political line andresistant approach.”

President al-Assad said ”I felt a huge desire to uproot corruption as a main reason for the lack of equal opportunities and the lack of justice,” asserting that ”we will not tolerate who is unable to bear responsibility …and success in this regard will only be through finding channels through which the citizens can participate, supervise and point to the mistakes.”

President al-Assad added that ”the national dialogue doesn’t mean certain elites or the dialogue of the opposition with the loyalists or the authority, and it is not only limited to politics but it is a dialogue with all spectrum of the Syrian people on all issues of the homeland,” pointing out that the ”National Dialogue Commission’s top priority is to consult with different parties to reach the best form which enables us to achieve our reform project within definite programs and dates… we can say that the national dialogue was the title of the current stage.”

”The urgent demands of people have been implemented before the beginning of the dialogue…we lifted Emergency Law and abolished State Security Court; we issued an organizing law for the right to peaceful demonstration. A committee was formed to set the draft bill for the new election law as another committee was formed to set legislations and the necessary mechanisms to combat corruption,” said President al-Assad.

”We started a big workshop to modernize and update media and to broaden its freedom space and boost its responsibility as we also worked on setting a draft bill for a new local administration law in addition to giving the Syrian nationality to the Kurds who are registered in the foreign records and forming a committee for studying a new party law,” added President al-Assad.

”Equality, justice, transparency and honesty are the future headlines which we aspire for our country. We will have a new parliament in August,” underscored President al-Assad.

The President emphasized that through the national dialogue any subject will be raised and the upcoming stage is the stage of turning Syria into a construction working team to compensate damages, bridge the rifts and heal thewounds.

His Excellency President al-Assad stressed we will prosecute all those who are responsible for the bloodshedor sought to do that, emphasizing that everyone was damaged and the accountability for that is the state’s right as much as it is the right of individuals.

“We want to search for an economic model which suites Syria and achieves social justice,” President al-Assad said.

President al-Assad said the application of the law does not mean to take revenge on those who broke the law, without killing or destruction, stressing that the State is like the father and the mother and embraces all based on tolerance and love, not on hatred and vengeance” asserting that pardoning mistaken people doesn’t meangiving up using force when it comes to damage of public interest.

His Excellency explained that the intensive meetings with the popular delegations’ allowed him to expand direct communication channels with citizens, saying that he will do his best for such meeting to be continued in the upcoming stage.

President al-Assad made it clear that achieving reforms and development is not an internal need only, but it is a vital necessity for confronting these schemes; therefore we have no choice but to succeed in the internal project as to succeed in our external one.

“I call upon every person of family who left their city to return back as soon as possible. There are those who claim that the State would take revenge, which is untrue hence the Army is there at their service,” added His Excellency President al-Assad.

President al-Assad said “the people are the most capable of maintaining security… I say that based on experience and reality… The one who protected the country during the critical years and who are protecting it now are the people … They are the youths who confronted, initiated and implemented… a state’s strength lies in the strength of the people and their strength lies in their dignity and their dignity lies in their freedom and their freedom lies in the power of their country.”

President al-Assad added Syria’s fate is to face plights, yet its fate is also to be strong, resistant and victorious and to get out of these plights stronger, thanks to its cohesive society and its people’s determination who were granted awareness, civilization and openness by the Almighty.”

”The solution for the problem is political, but there is no political solution with those who carry weapons,” underscored President al-Assad.

”When the parties take their roles in the future they will be the channel to transform the popular energy into Productivity,” added President al-Assad.

What takes place today has no connection to development or reform… what takes place is sabotage acts which led us too far from our developmental goals and ambitions.

President al-Assad wondered does the chaos provide more job opportunities for those who look for ? Does it improve the situation? Does it enhance the security we used to live in? adding that there is no development without stability and there is no reform through chaos and sabotage. Laws and decisions aren’t enough to achieve any progress apart from the secure environment for it.

The President added “we have either to repair what has been damaged and rehabilitate the saboteurs or to isolate them. Only then we can move forward in the development process.”

President al-Assad said “I met people from all the spectrums of the Syrian society, demonstrators and non-demonstrators and the truth is that I consider these meeting as the most important job I’ve ever had as a person in charge despite the frustration and pain in the general atmosphere yet I can say that the benefit was amazing. They showed great love and amity toward me I have never felt before.

The meetings were useful, fruitful, clear, deep and comprehensive tackling all issues with no exceptions, the President added.

President al-Assad stressed the need for immediate work to enhance the institutions role through legislations and people able to shoulder their responsibilities.

President al-Assad said that the state is able to combat and reduce corruption at the higher levels but in the lower levels, there is an urgent need to find a way for communication which is a task of the committee on combating corruption which has just completed its study on mechanisms of combating corruption.

A committee on national dialogue was formed for the sake of launching a national dialogue which includes all social, intellectual and political segments in Syria in an institutional approach, the president added.

The committee’s mission is to set the basics and necessary mechanisms to guarantee a comprehensive dialogue which allows discussing the draft laws on certain issues from one hand, and give the opportunity for the participation in making Syria’s future for the coming decades and generations on the other hand, in addition to helping us create a clear vision for this future and pushing the political, economic and social movement forward till the parties start to play a wider role in Syria’s life after approving the new law on parties.

“Consultation with different figures to reach the best from which helps us fulfill the reform process according to certain programs will be the main priority for the committee,” President al-Assad said.

President al-Assad added “dialogue is a very important process to which we have to give a chance. If we want to make Syria’s future a success, it should be based on this dialogue, we can’t always expect a vision coming from the state and the government as few dozens of people can’t plan for dozens of millions.”

The President said “we should know that lifting the state of emergency doesn’t mean to break the law. Lifting the state of emergency has nothing to do with penalties or their content.

Another committee on setting up the necessary mechanisms and legislations for combating corruption was formed to reduce this abnormal phenomenon. The citizen will play an important role in monitoring and uprooting this blight, indicating to essential role of media in this field to convey the voice of the citizen.

“As for the Local Administration Law, the project has been set and is under discussion currently”, President al-Assad added.

President al-Assad indicated that the Syrian nationality had been granted to the Kurd citizens, which will further enhance the national unity and create more stability in the long run.

“Number of applications applied to get the nationality exceeded 36 thousand…The number of the granted IDs so far exceeded 6,700 IDs”, President al-Assad added.

President al-Assad considered the forming of a committee to set new parties law as basic step in the field of the political development and expanding the democratic life, adding that a new law for parties will enrich the partial plurality and open space for wider participation for the part of the different political parties.

“These laws will contribute to creating new political reality in Syria through expanding the popular participation in the state administration and making the citizen responsible for taking part in the decisions makings process, supervision and accountability… That matter will result in reconsidering lots of the political work rules in the country and in calling, consequently, for a constitutional revision to amend some of the constitution articles or to set a new constitution that will go along with the changes witnessed in the economic, political and social structure in the last four decades in Syria”, President al-Assad said.

“I want to stress that the reform process is a complete and absolute conviction for us because it represent the interest of the country and the people’s desire… No sane person can stand against the interests of the country or the people”,President al-Assad stressed.

“What we are currently doing is shaping the future… Shaping the future will be history in the future… This future or history that we make will affect the forthcoming generations for decades… Here lies the importance of the national dialogue and that’s why the participation in this dialogue must be as wide as possible”, Mr. President said.

President al-Assad stressed that the most important thing right now is the popular consensus.

“As for the constitution for example… Should we amend some of its articles including the 8th article, or it will be better if we changed all the constitution… But some people suggest that we take specific measures now and change some articles, and later we move on to a comprehensive amendment of the constitution… If there will be amendment for some of the articles, there must be aPeople’s Assembly… If we elect a new Assembly in August, the new assembly can immediately start in studying the proposed amendments… If the election was postponed, according to the national dialogue decision for three months, all of this package will be end before the end of the year or during a five months period”, President al-Assad added.

President al-Assad pointed out that the government has taken several decisions that will help improve living conditions for citizens, adding that “At the forefront was decreasing the diesel prices, which was the most urgent demand for the delegations that I met… We hope the result of this decision will be reflected positively in the short run, particularly on the popular category in Syria.”

“It’s very important that we all work on restoring trust to the Syrian economy… This is the most dangerous thing that we will face in the coming stage.”


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