Yahya Maktabi’s Biography
Mr. Mohamed Yahya Maktabi was elected secretary-general of the Syrian National Coalition on January 5th, 2015 and was re-elected to on August 4th, 2015. He had previously held several positions in the Syrian Coalition, including:
- Member of the National Commission for Education since May 2013 until the end of that year. The commission supervised the high school examination for the academic year 2013 inside Syria and in the neighboring countries (Turkey – Jordan – Lebanon.)
- Member of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee from April 2014 to July 2014.
- Head of the Training and Qualification Department in the Syrian Coalition from July 2014 to December 2014. The department gave many courses in a variety of fields, including a training course it ran in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’.
He also contributed to the work of several interim committees within the Syrian Coalition including the committee tasked with amending the Syrian Coalition’s bylaws.
Before the outbreak of the Syrian Revolution, Maktabi worked in the field of accounting and financial auditing in private companies, and has extensive business experience as a result of working with many commercial and industrial companies. He also worked in the field of commercial arbitration.
Maktabi had the privilege of participating in the revolution since its early days. He is a member of the Revolutionary Command Council of Damascus. In March 2012, he left Syria to Jordan with his family to escape the regime’s security harassment. There he contributed to the humanitarian and relief efforts. He is a member and founding member of the Syrian National Coalition.
Maktabi believes that the quickest way to solve the Syrian crisis is through a political process that leads to the formation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers, including over the army and security apparatuses. He believes that Bashar al-Assad and his colleagues play absolutely no role in the future of Syria, and that Syria freedom and dignity, democracy and the rule law and equality are built only by Syrians.
Professor Yahya’s current office as secretary general of the National Coalition for the revolutionary forces and opposition political activist; that the representation of the basic principles of the Syrian revolution and protection in international platforms and political negotiations are the first priority for him.
