Ruba Habboush, the Vice-President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), has emphasized that there is no agreement on the return of the Assad regime to the Arab League and normalization with it. She expressed her astonishment at the Arab League’s disregard for the rules on which the organization was established.
Habboush highlighted that there are still honorable positions and voices that support the Syrian people’s right to freedom, dignity, and a prosperous future with justice and equality. She also noted that the SOC remains committed to the choice of the Syrian people and their legitimate demands for a complete political transition in the country. The goal is to end tyranny and establish a new phase where people govern and determine their own destiny.
Furthermore, Habboush commended the positions of the State of Qatar, Kuwait, and sincere and honorable Arab figures, as well as the United States and the European Union, which oppose the return of the Assad regime to the Arab League and normalization with it.
In a similar vein, the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majid bin Muhammad al-Ansari, affirmed that his country’s stance on normalization with the regime “has not changed.” He added that any normalization of relations “is primarily linked to progress in a political solution that meets the Syrian people’s aspirations.”
According to Al-Ansari, the Assad regime must address the root causes of the crisis that led to its boycott and take positive steps towards resolving the issues of the Syrian people.
Meanwhile, Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party, questioned the Arab League’s decision to readmit the Assad regime, saying: “Did they ask the Syrian people if they wanted to return to the Arab fold? Of course not.”
Jumblatt compared the Arab League to the Titanic ship, which is inevitably sinking and carrying the people to their doom. He stressed that by granting legitimacy to the Assad regime to act as it pleases, the Arab League has endangered the lives of those who have escaped torture, imprisonment, or displacement in Syria. He also posed a question to the Arab League: “Have you ever consulted the people about self-determination?”
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
