Michel Kilo to Zaman Alwasl: Jarba incited Jamal Marouf to form a new revolutionary government… and the West warns: A big NO… as big as the Syrian revolution with its complexities and the conflicts of the Syrian coalition, was announced by Michel Kilo against whoever wants to steal the coalition and commits mistakes. The words uttered by the outspoken Syrian writer and human rights activist, Michel Kilo, saying: “I have never been silent about mistakes and will not do that now, nor will accept another mini Bashar under another name”. Kilo…the sophisticated and democratic politician told Zaman Alwasl about a film that could be titled “this is how they stole the presidency “with all the details, however he did not attack the new president Hadi Al Bahra as much as he warned him of adopting Jarba’s exclusionary approach which is based on blackmailing and political money, calling Al Bahra to an independent institutional, team work, then as Kilo described:” we will raise him over our shoulders”. In this interview, Kilo revealed that Ahmad Jarba has requested from the commander of “Syria Revolutionaries Front” Jamal Marouf to form a new revolutionary government to replace Tomeh’s government. • Mr. Michel, now that Hadi Al Bahra has become the new president of the coalition, despite your many comments and objections on the way the election was conducted are you ready to work with him for the revolution’s sake and forget the past? “Frankly, and I mentioned that to Al Bahra in an article titled” the choices of Hadi Al Bahra” that says: if he adopts Jarba’s exclusionary and individual approach, then working with him would be impossible, but if he is willing to turn the coalition into a unified institution and accept advisory efficient bodies, whether from the coalition or outside, then I’ll be the first to cooperate with him as the new president of the coalition. All I want is for Al Bahra is to be independent and break away from any domination that could affect his choices and decisions”. • Some believe that you have become anti- Jarba, and have taken an opposing side? “I haven’t changed nor took another stance, but I don’t accept Jabra’s policy in the coalition which is based on financial and political blackmailing. We, the Democratic Bloc have agreed on the nomination of Mowafaq Nirabiah to head the coalition, in an election conducted under the supervision of Fayez Sara, which Hadi Al Bahra had lost and later announced his commitment to the unanimous decision . Days later, Jarba returned from Saudi Arabia and refused the block’s decision, insisting on nominating Hadi Al Bahra, but if Jarba was a member of the democratic bloc, he would have accepted its decisions, however, he acted as head of the coalition, issuing orders to his followers. Therefore, the entire block, including the two professors Sarah and Bahra, should have refused his request, insisted on their nominee “Nirabiah” and scolded Jarba’s for his authoritarian behavior, but that did not happen, and all the pressure that followed aimed to ensure our compliance with Jarba’s desire, which was an insult to all of us, and was overlooked by the those who threatened and vowed to put pressure on some members, who returned to their hotel, crying, because they were forced to change their mind and vote for Bahra. With these anti-democracy actions which contradict the basics standards of respectful conduct, Hadi Al Bahra has become the new candidate of the democratic bloc, so how can we forget and give him our trust when we know he has overridden all national and democratic values in order to gain power”. • You criticize Jarba today, but everyone knows you were the godfather of his arrival to the presidency? We did not nominate Jarba to be the president of the coalition for reasons related to his person, or to me, it was merely within an agreed program to restore the independency of national decision, which was lost with the establishment of the coalition, the General Staff and the military council, without inviting him to the ceremonies. We have agreed with Jarba on Institutionalizing the coalition, uniting rebels in a unified FSA army, and forming a governmental executive body that runs and serves the liberated areas, in addition to that we requested from Jarba to pay great importance to linking the revolution’s goals with the coalition, and concentrate on the inside since it’s where the conflict will be resolved and that what will guarantee self-determination for the Syrian people. However, after two months of his presidency, and at a meeting for the Democratic List, I said that Jarba is applying his own agenda and not what we have agreed upon; therefore we must face and oppose his policies on behalf of democracy that brought him to presidency, however, at that time, some people said “it’s early to decide on his actions, let’s give him more time” and I abided by my colleagues’ decision to preserve our unity. This was in the past and I have many witnesses, But as for now, I will not be silenced about any mistakes committed by the coalition’s management, nor will tolerate the exploitation of Syrians’ tragedy and blood by some figures in order to build their personal, factional or partisan glories, even if it was for the current Democratic bloc or in its name. news have circulated that the emergency meeting of the coalition’s Secretariat on the 18th of this month, which was called by the new Secretary-General Nasr al-Hariri, is held to withhold confidence from Ahmad Tomeh’s government, what is your stance from this step if it happens? I will not accept such a step, not in defense of anyone, but to ward off serious risks from becoming disasters to the opposition, and because the work of Tomeh’s government on the ground is acceptable according to all Arab and foreign countries which cooperated with it, and they informed Al Bahra not to withhold confidence , in order not to frighten donors, who will think they are cooperating with unstable and carless entities that don’t care about Syrians’ interests, and eventually encourage them to stop their aid. Anyway, there is a document which proves that the subject of “no-confidence” was prepared by Ahmad Jarba even before Tomeh’s decision to dismiss the General Staff and the military council, which I think came at the wrong time, And I said so to Dr. Tomeh - that dismissing the government will have a great and dangerous impact on the opposition, since we will end up with unbalanced and disabled coalition. The general Staff is 100% percent inactive, as its president said in front of 112 members of the coalition, and in addition to an absent government, we will face a situation in which all the revolution’s institutions are absent or inactive, in a pivotal and crucial moment, since the current developments are not in the advantage of the Syrian people and their rights. Moreover, I heard that the Coalition’s former president has asked Mr. Jamal Marouf to carry out activities against Tomeh’s government, after being told by some ambassadors and mentors that his stance toward the government will not be acceptable, and after he promised them to postpone determining its fate. • In front of this melancholic picture, and being Jarba’s former friend, why didn’t you advise him and agree on a common national work? I’ve warned Jarba many times, face to face and among witnesses, and through much of what I wrote about the coalition’s crisis, its leadership and inability to build relationships and so on and even explicitly criticized Jarba’s policies in front of the political body and warned him of extending his term, a thought he had for long in his imagination. And even a close person to Jarba has told me that the latter asked Bahra to find ways to obtain the presidency again, but told him it’s impossible currently, then Jarba decided to hand over the presidency for a six months cycle, to reelect himself after the lapse of this period. And at that meeting I told Jarba:” you become a national hero, remembered in history as the person who worked on institutionalizing the coalition, and adopted democratic and participatory practices, or will be cursed by Syrians and history forever“. “I’ve often warned him of the consequences of his approach, but these advises have fallen on deaf ears, and he kept his methods of managing the coalition, although found himself forced to abandon the idea of extension his presidency. • Did you talk with Saudi Arabia? And do you think they know about all these practices? No, I did not talk with the brothers in the Kingdom on this matter, but I am sure they do not accept Jarba’s wrong practices. Saudi Arabia is one of the most supportive countries and it’s in their interest for our issues to be okay, and to have an active strong coalition instead of a disabled one, and I believe that the Kingdom wants Jarba and all of us to fear God and stand up by the Syrian people.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 11:06:07 +0000
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