The General Assembly decided to form a new FSA Supreme Military Command (SMC) in accordance with Article 31 of the Syrian Coalition’s bylaws in the last day of its 22nd meeting held in Istanbul. The new SMC is expected to ensure the representation of the rebel factions currently active on the ground. A decision was made to form a committee to work on the formation of the new leadership depending on standards that have already been agreed upon. Moreover, the General Assembly decided to freeze the FSA Supreme Military Council and to maintain its representatives within the General Assembly until the formation of the new leadership.
A maximum period of one month was set for the committee to form the new FSA leadership, which will include representatives of all the Syrian Coalition blocks who are to be nominated within one week of the decision.
The General Assembly also decided to dismiss Walid al-Omari from the Syrian Coalition by 95 votes out of 107 for violating the basic rules of the General Assembly meetings.
The General Assembly also decided to postpone the next session of its meetings to July 30, 2015, and agreed that the presidential and political bodies continue to function with full powers.
The meeting, which began on Friday and continued to Sunday, discussed a set of files of which on top came the political developments, especially the change in the international political climate which has seen a new push for reaching a political solution in Syria. The General Assembly also discussed the Syrian Coalition’s meetings with the international envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, in Geneva and Istanbul as well as the Political Committee’s meeting with the EU ambassadors.
The FSA’s deputy Chief of Staff and a number of rebel leaders submitted a report on the field developments and the recent rebel gains against regime forces on all fronts in Syria.
A detailed report on the Syrian Coalition’s visit to the city of Idlib was also submitted during the meeting. The visit was done by a delegation that included President of the Supreme Council for Local Administration Jalaluddin Khanji, head of the Health Committee Jawad Abu Hatab and director of the intermediate institutes in the interim Ministry of Education. The conferees discussed the importance of the success of civil administration in Idlib, highlighting its features and reviewing guidelines of good local governance.
The meeting also touched on file of education in Idlib, and a road map was discussed and approved to resume education in the province.
Finally, the General Assembly discussed a draft of the Syrian Coalition’s financial regulations while specialized committee was assigned to prepare a final draft of these regulations to be presented to the General Assembly for approval before the next meeting. (Source: Syrian Coalition)