Syria: The viable initiative

The smoke left from the crossfire between the Syrian regime and the armed opposition, as well as between the Syrian and Turkish armies is filling the Syrian horizon: no one  can see a chance for a political solution to the crisis. Although this chance is currently invisible, it is still realistic, even after the death of more than 30,000 people, and the destruction of many Syrian cities which now look like some of the cities ravaged by WWII. A viable and effective political initiative must include some substantial features. First: President Bashar al-Assad should bring forward the date of the presidential elections to 2013 instead of 2014. He must promise to stay out of the elections as well. Second: President Assad should immediately transfer most of his presidential powers to a transitional presidential council chaired by his vice Farouk al-Sharaa. All members of this council should not have been involved in the brutal crackdown which led to the death of tens of thousands of Syrian people. The council's formation should also include representatives of all factions of Syria's political spectrum. This council would rule the country through a one-year period until the date of the presidential election comes. Third: Both the regime and the opposition have to apply some procedures aimed at building mutual trust and restoring normal life in the country. On top of these procedures is a total and firm ceasefire across the country from all the rival troops. Both the state's army and the armed opposition must pull out of all the main cities of Syria. All the armed militias should be immediately dismantled and disarmed. And finally all the people who have been detained since the uprising broke should be released. Fourth: The newly founded presidential council should draft a transitional constitution and a road map for a democratic change in the country. This map must set certain dates for a constituent assembly election, then a president and a parliament. Fifth: The presidential council should also set a plan to reach an agreement among all the religious and sectarian divisions of the country, in order to get rid of the remaining tensions caused by the dreadful conflict of the last two years. Setting basic rules for a transitional justice would be an integral part of this reconciliation. Sixth: The presidential council would coordinate with all powers of the international community to fund a reconstruction process in Syria to rebuild what was destroyed during the war, and to fund projects that would provide job opportunities to hundreds of thousands of Syrians who lost their jobs due to the crisis. The viability of this initiative depends on three main suppositions: First: The conflict in Syria has reached a point where both sides have lost hope to achieve a military victory; neither the regime is able to uproot the opposition, nor the latter is able to eliminate the regime. Second: The regime and the opposition have both turned to be a burden rather than an ally for their supporters, who are getting more convinced everyday that the cost of supporting either of them is much higher than the potential reward. Third: The difference between the United States and the Russian ideas to solve the crisis has been limited to one point, which is whether Assad should leave the country at the beginning of the transitional part or at the end of it, but both countries know well that Assad must leave. This initiative is also providing solutions for problems that were overlooked in the latest Turkish initiative which only suggested replacing Assad with Sharaa. A presidential council that includes a wide variety of political figures would stop all the fears that some groups have towards a change in Syria, because it will rule any sectarian dominance out of the solution and help the country avoid the corns of the vulnerable Yemeni model. The implementation mechanism of this initiative depends on an international consensus, based substantially on a US-Russian accord. I believe that the UN-Arab League envoy Mr Lakhdar Brahimi can provide an official international umbrella for this initiative, while the quartet contact group found upon Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's initiative could supervise the practical steps of it. I suppose that this initiative - or a very similar one- will be proposed by Mr Brahimi after the smoke of the Battle of Aleppo clears and the result of the US presidential election is figured out. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.