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‘The Brotherhood must make some compromises to win people’s loyalty’

May 15, 2013 Sameer al-Homsi is an interior designer who […]


15 May 2013

May 15, 2013

Sameer al-Homsi is an interior designer who has a degree in science and technology. He is a member of the opposition outside the National Coalition who believes in a democratic state. Al-Homsi is the head of Hiwar Siyasi [Political Dialogue] Skype chatroom. He explains to Nuha Shabaan why he believes the Muslim Brotherhood is unpopular with Syrians.

Q: Representatives of the Syrian opposition said that they plan to make a presence in areas the Syrian government no longer controls. Their objective is to introduce the opposition as an alternative for the Syrian people. This, however, has raised the question: How will the opposition defend their territory from the Syrian air force?

A: The transitional government should pay attention to the following matters: Law and order, reconciliation, economic development, health, education, watering and farming.

Q: How does the opposition plan to make a presence in the areas the government no longer controls?

A: The Coalition is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, so all the decisions they make will be worrisome. That will have an impact on Ghassan Hito’s government, considering that it’s tied to the Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is not popular among the FSA and the fighting battalions. They are trying, by all means, to win their [the fighters’] loyalty to be able to operate in the liberated areas, but it’s a very difficult mission. Their reputation has been damaged lately after cutting supplies for the battalions that didn’t grant them allegiance. Many now call for them to be held accountable after victory.

This government won’t be able to secure these areas. Their role will not exceed humanitarian aid and limited military assistance if they are backed by Western countries.

Q: What are the limited things the new government can do for the people?

A: A part of the opposition is not represented in the government even thought it is popular inside and has ties with the battalions. If they don’t cooperate with the government, there will be a problem. I think this is what’s going to happen because we’ve experienced the Muslim Brotherhood since the beginning of the revolution. They always work on excluding people, whether in the National Council or the Coalition. They even failed at the Arab League meeting in Cairo to unite the opposition.

Q: Who is Hito’s team?

A: Some names from Hito’s team were leaked but what is important is that this will be a Muslim Brotherhood government, which will make it difficult for us to work with it. The Brotherhood must make some compromises to win people’s loyalty. They should have expanded the Coalition to include all the opposition forces before forming a government. This government will only be a charity that runs some of the world’s donations. They might not even succeed in that.

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