SYRIATV — broadcast
20261102 190000 UTC
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[00:00:08] of question, especially in
[00:00:13] I mean, from
[00:00:22] have some kind of the Third Republic program a number
[00:00:43] When people's affairs are managed from We open this a place far from them,
[00:00:47] solutions may be delayed and the needs of cities
[00:00:50] and regions remain outside the scope of attention. From here
[00:00:54] arises the discussion about centralization and administrative
[00:00:57] decentralization, and about expanding the powers of the regions,
[00:01:01] as a discussion about
[00:01:04] of fear of how to manage the state efficiently and justly, and about the right of every
[00:01:08] region to have a voice and role in
[00:01:11] determining its priorities.
[00:01:14] and the rest of the matters come from In Syria, this discussion raises real questions
[00:01:18] and concerns: Does
[00:01:19] this be managed decentralization mean dividing the country or weakening the state? Can
[00:01:23] local powers turn into
[00:01:26] thank you. It's a gateway for nepotism or to increase disparities between one region
[00:01:30] and another? And who guarantees that resources will be distributed
[00:01:33] fairly and that decisions remain subject to law
[00:01:37] and accountability? These questions should not
[00:01:40] to scatter. No, be ignored, and answering them with slogans
[00:01:44] is not enough. What is required is to understand the difference
[00:01:48] between local governance closer to the people
[00:01:51] afraid of and the disintegration of the state, and to search for
[00:01:54] a formula that preserves the unity of the country and guarantees
[00:01:58] equality among its citizens, and grants local
[00:02:03] in Syria, this communities greater ability to manage their affairs within clear institutions
[00:02:06] and effective oversight. So, what
[00:02:10] should remain of the powers of the central state, and what
[00:02:14] can be managed locally? And how
[00:02:17] can we expand the powers of the regions without
[00:02:20] any accountability, anything, would be on losing the unity of the state or
[00:02:24] from the people so that the people choose so that there aspect at the same time. So, they are not the fairness of rights?
[00:02:25] two opposites that cannot This is the weekly statement from the Third
[00:02:26] Republic.
[00:02:35] system capable of
[00:02:47] infrastructure
[00:02:49] situation in each country.
[00:02:50] crossing. Therefore, many
[00:02:57] regime, remaining Between federalism, semi- federalism, centralization, and
[00:03:00] decentralization, the forms of local governance vary, and
[00:03:04] each has its advantages
[00:03:07] people, which destroyed this and disadvantages. More details in this material, and we will return to begin
[00:03:10] governorate, or based on the discussion.
[00:03:12] Countries differ in the way they organize governance and distribute
[00:03:15] powers between the central government and regional
[00:03:18] and local authorities. In
[00:03:21] a federal system, powers are constitutionally distributed between a federal
[00:03:25] government and states or regions. The federal
[00:03:29] I mean, you know the service situation government usually handles defense and foreign policy,
[00:03:33] while states enjoy legislative
[00:03:36] and executive
[00:03:38] many structural diseases in powers constitutionally the late sixties protected. This
[00:03:42] democracy and elections in system allows for respecting the specificities of regions, but it can lead to overlapping
[00:03:45] and we have written a lot, indeed, at powers and complicated
[00:03:48] and you called it that there is decision-making. Examples include the United States,
[00:03:53] many see. But on the Germany, Switzerland, and Iraq.
[00:03:56] elections. The issue is about As for the semi- federal system, regions
[00:03:58] enjoy broad political autonomy that includes
[00:04:02] legislative and executive
[00:04:05] institutions within a constitutionally unified
[00:04:10] and not concentrating on state. It helps to expand regional participation,
[00:04:13] their decision as well. Now, this but it can raise disputes over the limits of powers and the relationship
[00:04:16] hoping that this matter with the center. Examples include Spain
[00:04:19] and Italy, with differences in their self-governance
[00:04:22] arrangements. In a centralized system, basic decisions
[00:04:26] and policymaking are concentrated in the national government,
[00:04:30] while its subordinate administrations implement
[00:04:33] them locally. It
[00:04:36] wants, I mean, wants to helps to unify policies
[00:04:36] set plans that do not align or do not and coordinate the work of institutions,
[00:04:37] The fear of a segment of but it can slow down decisions
[00:04:40] society from and weaken responsiveness to local needs. Examples
[00:04:42] include Turkey and Greece, despite the existence
[00:04:46] of elected municipalities and local
[00:04:49] margin of powers
[00:04:51] a considerable margin of in both.
[00:04:54] power and wealth. So, in As for decentralization, it means distributing powers,
[00:04:56] responsibilities, and resources to local or regional
[00:05:00] authorities that enjoy relative independence from the central
[00:05:04] government. It helps to bring decisions closer to citizens
[00:05:08] and improve responsiveness to their needs,
[00:05:10] but it can lead to disparities between regions if their
[00:05:14] resources and administrative capacities differ. Decentralization has
[00:05:18] three main dimensions: political, which grants regions or
[00:05:21] elected councils powers in governance
[00:05:25] and decision-making, and may include legislation, as in
[00:05:28] Spain; administrative, which grants councils and municipalities
[00:05:32] responsibility for managing local services and facilities,
[00:05:36] as in France; and financial, which grants local
[00:05:38] authorities powers in managing budgets, revenues,
[00:05:42] and expenditures, as in Denmark. These dimensions may
[00:05:46] converge within a single state, whether it is
[00:05:49] unitary or federal.
[00:05:55] discussion with Mr. Fouad Aliko, member of the Political Committee of the
[00:05:59] Kurdistan Democratic Party in Syria, who joins us from Erbil.
[00:06:02] Welcome, and Mr. Bishr Hawa, member of the People's Assembly from Aleppo. Welcome
[00:06:05] to you too, and Dr. Ammar Kahf, Executive Director of Omran Center
[00:06:09] for Strategic Studies, who joins us from Damascus. Welcome.
[00:06:13] And I will start with you, Dr. Ammar. If
[00:06:16] we can simply
[00:06:18] explain the differences between decentralization
[00:06:21] and centralization, extended administrative decentralization, federalism,
[00:06:24] and confederalism, and
[00:06:27] what are the administrative systems suitable
[00:06:30] for Syria's current
[00:06:32] situation?
[00:06:35] It's a very complex question,
[00:06:39] very difficult to explain all these
[00:06:42] details, but you know there is a fear when we mention
[00:06:45] decentralization or
[00:06:46] centralization.
[00:06:50] I mean, first of all, this concept is not a single
[00:06:53] , sharp concept. There is a spectrum of different forms
[00:06:57] of delegation and
[00:07:01] transfer of powers.
[00:07:03] Any central authority either delegates or transfers, or
[00:07:07] there is no exclusivity. I mean, there are many forms of transfer of
[00:07:11] powers and resources, and distribution of these resources.
[00:07:14] I mean, it is very important that we do not reduce
[00:07:17] the issue of centralization and decentralization as if they are two
[00:07:21] sharp opposites, but rather there are many forms, horizontal
[00:07:25] and vertical. There are degrees of the same
[00:07:29] delegation, and sometimes you may find a central
[00:07:32] aspect and a decentralized
[00:07:38] coexist, and this is part of the conceptual confusion
[00:07:41] that exists in many countries. I mean, especially countries
[00:07:44] that have emerged from revolutions or civil
[00:07:48] wars also suffer from, uh, I mean,
[00:07:51] the time period required for the transition
[00:07:54] to a specific form that suits
[00:07:57] the distribution of powers, that suits the geopolitical
[00:08:02] I mean, when we talk about what we need in Syria, it is something
[00:08:05] specific, tailored to our needs, based on a real
[00:08:09] dialogue between the population and
[00:08:12] based also on understanding the needs
[00:08:15] and resources. This means that you cannot go to the extreme
[00:08:18] degrees of decentralization or delegation or transfer
[00:08:21] of powers to a smaller
[00:08:24] level. What is the appropriate model for Syria according to the current
[00:08:28] reality and according to what Syria has gone through from experiences
[00:08:31] of excessive centralization, and also,
[00:08:34] in contrast, 14 years of revolution have greatly
[00:08:38] weakened the regions. in
[00:08:44] I mean,
[00:08:47] yes, I mean, the problem is that we have
[00:08:51] the organizational and administrative structure,
[00:08:54] and I was trying to say that the decentralized
[00:08:57] solution cannot be reduced to a magic solution that
[00:09:00] will solve the problem of corruption and solve the issue of resource
[00:09:03] distribution and solve participation and solve no, I mean,
[00:09:07] there are many elements, including the issue of
[00:09:10] distributing powers. I mean, the issue of centralization and decentralization
[00:09:14] at its core is the distribution of powers and resources
[00:09:17] in a way that makes the population
[00:09:21] feel justice in this distribution and feel that they own
[00:09:26] feeling is relative, and this feeling is a spectrum of
[00:09:29] its diverse forms. I am trying to simplify
[00:09:32] the concepts for male and female viewers
[00:09:35] that this issue is not very complicated and difficult to say,
[00:09:39] "Oh, these are terms only politicians or academics discuss,"
[00:09:43] but rather it is how you live your life in a remote
[00:09:46] town or city. How do services
[00:09:49] reach you? How do you vote for them? Is
[00:09:53] the local elected official have fewer
[00:09:56] or more powers than the one appointed
[00:09:59] by the center? And is the center one, or are there
[00:10:02] layers: governorate, city,
[00:10:06] town, region, perhaps in some countries? I mean, these
[00:10:09] degrees also create advantages and create
[00:10:17] advantages. Yes, but let's be clear that the concept of administrative
[00:10:20] decentralization does not mean dividing the country or its
[00:10:23] disunity or weakening it. As we mentioned, it is an issue related
[00:10:26] to how every citizen in Syria gets their
[00:10:30] right and justice
[00:10:33] in services, social justice, and economic
[00:10:37] justice. I will go to Mr. I will come back to you, Mr. Ammar, but I will go to Mr. Fouad
[00:10:40] Aliko. Mr. Fouad,
[00:10:43] why, from your point of view, should Syria
[00:10:47] decentralization, or perhaps does agreement on the form of governance in
[00:10:51] Syria require dialogue between its components?
[00:10:55] Is there a need for this from your point of view, especially
[00:10:59] since I mean,
[00:11:02] there were accusations, and they are not accusations, it is
[00:11:05] a reality. The Kurdish component,
[00:11:08] its political representatives, had demands
[00:11:11] previously related
[00:11:22] noticed from the speech of my friend Dr.
[00:11:25] Ammar a tone
[00:11:29] embarking on the concept of
[00:11:31] political decentralization, and he tried by all
[00:11:35] means to scatter ideas
[00:11:39] so that
[00:11:51] put forward several. He put forward several
[00:11:54] issues in one basket. I mean, fears from
[00:11:57] certain aspects, the issue of services, the issue
[00:12:13] systems, I mean, we are always
[00:12:16] the new. This is a natural human
[00:12:19] condition. But if we go back a little
[00:12:23] in time and
[00:12:26] look at the history of centralized Arab
[00:12:29] countries, especially republics,
[00:12:33] of which we are a part, the Syrian Arab Republic or the Syrian
[00:12:36] Republic, as we want or wish it to be
[00:12:39] named, eight Arab republics
[00:12:43] started with a democratic system, with a democratic
[00:12:46] constitution that respects human rights, and ended
[00:12:49] with the worst dictatorships
[00:12:52] that have not been seen
[00:12:55] in many countries in the world.
[00:12:58] So this centralized system has been proven
[00:13:02] flawed for half a century. So what is the desired form
[00:13:05] from your point of view now, away from the centralized
[00:13:07] system? The extremely centralized system.
[00:13:11] The decentralized system, then, is the
[00:13:15] decentralized system.
[00:13:17] Decentralization is multifaceted, Mr. Fouad. There is administrative
[00:13:20] decentralization, extended administrative decentralization, political
[00:13:24] decentralization. I mean, there are differences between them, and significant
[00:13:27] differences. Decentralization has multiple levels, as
[00:13:31] you mentioned, and professors of law differentiate them further,
[00:13:35] from federalism to political decentralization to extended administrative
[00:13:38] decentralization to administrative decentralization. In fact, administrative
[00:13:41] decentralization, as stated in your report, in France's experience,
[00:13:45] France's experience, you notice from time to time
[00:13:48] that it creates difficulties
[00:13:52] for French society, and what we see
[00:13:55] today reminds us of what happened in
[00:14:00] in France. So, this administrative decentralized
[00:14:04] system, as long as powers are in the hands of the center and can
[00:14:07] be abolished by a decision from the center or from the Minister of Local Administration
[00:14:10] or from the President of the Republic by decree, then this
[00:14:14] is currently unsuitable for our societies. The federal
[00:14:18] or decentralized system, in your opinion, is it suitable? Some believe
[00:14:20] that on the contrary,
[00:14:23] the decentralized
[00:14:31] system, from my point of view, in my opinion and point of view,
[00:14:34] the federal system or political decentralization achieves
[00:14:38] two goals in any country, whether Syria or
[00:14:41] elsewhere. It is considered a magic
[00:14:44] and ideal solution for issues
[00:14:47] for countries suffering from the problem of national or religious
[00:14:51] minorities, and the second case
[00:14:54] is division, and some see it as for the state, especially since
[00:14:58] a country like Syria has fought a war with a criminal regime and a revolution for
[00:15:01] almost 14 years, it is ready
[00:15:04] for disintegration under the guise of federalism or political
[00:15:07] decentralization. Just, just let me complete
[00:15:11] the idea. In the second case, for cohesive
[00:15:13] countries, it is considered an ideal solution for distributing
[00:15:19] both cases, the decentralized system
[00:15:22] is considered better than the centralized system. Yes,
[00:15:25] we have that the fear, unfortunately,
[00:15:28] is mutual between the components, and we
[00:15:32] as Kurds, as the Kurdish people, and
[00:15:35] the larger component, our Arab brothers. Well,
[00:15:38] we fear that centralization will return,
[00:15:41] and repression will begin again, and repression
[00:15:44] of freedoms, and repression and obliteration of rights. And these
[00:15:47] fears are not with one component over another, Mr. Fouad. These fears
[00:15:51] are with most of the Syrian people, especially those who carried out the revolution.
[00:15:55] Allow me to move to Mr. Bishr. Mr. Bishr, in the legal framework,
[00:15:58] if we talk about what governs Syria now, it is Law
[00:16:02] 107 for local administration. To what extent do we need
[00:16:06] to develop laws related to local administrations
[00:16:09] or engage in discussion in the People's Assembly among its members
[00:16:13] about the issue of the state's form related to its administration between
[00:16:17] centralization and decentralization, whether administrative or political?
[00:16:21] And you are components in
[00:16:34] today on Syria TV is the discussion that
[00:16:40] takes place in the People's Assembly, in all assemblies, in forums, all Syrians are talking about
[00:16:43] this. In fact, this talk is realistic. Today, there are
[00:16:47] two very big challenges in Syria: a political challenge, as
[00:16:50] you mentioned a moment ago, there is a fear
[00:16:53] for Syria's entity, for Syria
[00:16:56] as a country, that it will continue in this form that we know.
[00:17:00] There is a developmental challenge, a
[00:17:02] service challenge. In fact, the political challenge terrifies
[00:17:06] the proponents of this theory. They are terrified of the issue
[00:17:09] of decentralization because, in fact, decentralization entails,
[00:17:12] especially in this period, it entails all decentralization, Mr. Bishr, all types
[00:17:16] of decentralization, or political decentralization?
[00:17:20] Some, no, no, political decentralization at its extreme, we mean
[00:17:23] political decentralization, and others,
[00:17:26] and I am one of them, I see, I mean,
[00:17:29] the issue of the developmental challenge cannot
[00:17:32] be solved except through decentralization. Today, we have, I mean,
[00:17:35] عننا يعني
[00:17:38] the great diversity
[00:17:40] disparity, this problem, and this gap between the center
[00:17:44] and the regions, yes, between the main cities and the regions, cannot
[00:17:48] solve this gap except through
[00:17:50] administrative decentralization. When people, when society, when authority comes
[00:17:54] from the bottom up, from the base
[00:17:57] towards the top, here the philosophy of the state
[00:18:01] changes, and the philosophy of authority and the philosophy
[00:18:05] of governance change, and consequently, local
[00:18:08] authorities or local administrations produce a new
[00:18:13] adapting, capable of understanding society itself and understanding
[00:18:16] its needs and requirements, and its budgets, etc.
[00:18:19] Now, this discussion is really taking place, since, I mean,
[00:18:23] you mentioned Law 107. Law
[00:18:26] 107 is one of the laws that I believe
[00:18:30] is, I mean, one of the most beautiful laws produced by the Assad
[00:18:35] on paper, let's say, of course. It's a law. And it talks about
[00:18:38] great centralization that does not give the regions
[00:18:41] their powers and does not distribute, and there is
[00:18:45] no fair distribution of wealth, and there is
[00:18:48] no attention to I mean, there is, to be honest, Mr.
[00:18:52] Bishr, through discussions with legal experts,
[00:18:55] there was a big dispute. Some hold your view that Law 107
[00:18:59] is a good local administration law, and some hold the exact opposite
[00:19:03] view, that it has nothing to do with administrative decentralization.
[00:19:06] No, Law 107 gave administrative units,
[00:19:10] no matter how small their size, it gave them
[00:19:13] a very large margin. Law 107
[00:19:16] focused on the issue of
[00:19:19] administrative units, no matter how small their size, we
[00:19:22] repeat. So, any administrative unit that has
[00:19:26] elections, elected people reach it, they
[00:19:29] are the authority. The issue is not only about
[00:19:33] powers, the issue is about fair distribution of wealth,
[00:19:36] the issue is about giving attention to remote areas, as
[00:19:40] they are called, or poor areas, a kind of justice
[00:19:43] and greater attention. Therefore, we are talking about focusing on the regions
[00:19:47] the center. Go ahead.
[00:19:50] When we have elections in any area, I mean, the existence
[00:19:54] of legitimacy. This legitimacy, when I
[00:19:57] have legitimacy in that area, it is the authority, let's
[00:20:00] say, the small authority, despite its small
[00:20:03] size. As long as it has legitimacy, it
[00:20:06] is capable of standing up to the center
[00:20:09] if the center, I mean,
[00:20:14] fit with the plans that
[00:20:18] should be set or are set by this area or town or village,
[00:20:21] etc. Today, 1007 gave a considerable
[00:20:26] movement, of powers. It gave
[00:20:29] financial movement as well at the level of
[00:20:32] budgets and their management
[00:20:35] by local councils. But, I mean, at this
[00:20:39] very point, and here allow me to interrupt you because I want to go to the opinion poll,
[00:20:42] but the issue of budgets specifically, that the budget is distributed
[00:20:46] entirely from the center
[00:20:48] to the regions, or to the regions, or to the governorates,
[00:20:52] according to administrative divisions, is also a point, I mean,
[00:20:58] areas that have resources. How are resources distributed
[00:21:01] between, I mean, what the state is entitled to and what the people
[00:21:04] of that area are entitled to. In any case, we asked in
[00:21:10] of Syrians: Should officials be elected, or should
[00:21:13] officials be elected to manage their governorates,
[00:21:17] cities, and towns, or
[00:21:20] is the appointment policy better? Let's hear what the answers were and return
[00:21:23] to the discussion.
[00:21:27] Elections, because the municipality
[00:21:30] must take care of the people living in that area,
[00:21:33] and they are the people who know best what is in their
[00:21:36] interest. When an appointment comes from, for example,
[00:21:40] let's say I'm in this municipality and someone from Aleppo appoints someone
[00:21:43] here, they won't know our problems and our needs. As for the People's Assembly
[00:21:47] and parliaments, these are always chosen by the
[00:21:50] people. I mean, the best logic is the people, why? Because they will be
[00:21:54] a miniature model of
[00:21:58] the population of the area they live in, so they will represent
[00:22:01] the people of different sects. As
[00:22:05] for other bodies like municipalities and so on,
[00:22:09] they are appointed by their supervisory body because they
[00:22:12] would be more knowledgeable about the people
[00:22:15] they want to choose, whether engineers or experts
[00:22:18] and so on. Of course, elections, because it is inherently
[00:22:22] our right, and whatever the people choose,
[00:22:25] no. Elections, because elections, I mean,
[00:22:28] we want the competent person who will be in
[00:22:31] the position. I mean, now if you want to appoint
[00:22:35] someone, I mean, his position would be, but
[00:22:38] in elections, the people, I mean, whoever votes
[00:22:42] more and whoever deserves it wins.
[00:22:45] Preferably, I mean, with elections,
[00:22:49] there will be elections, the opinion of citizens. Each one elects
[00:22:52] whoever they feel is able to bear
[00:22:55] this responsibility. I am from Deir ez-Zor, we prefer
[00:22:59] elections because there will be justice because we would have
[00:23:02] elected him and put him in place, and integrity is better than
[00:23:05] I mean, I mean,
[00:23:10] the people because the people chose him
[00:23:14] is no excuse for anyone that this person was appointed by this one, this one reached,
[00:23:17] or something. No, the people are better.
[00:23:22] So, after we heard this opinion poll,
[00:23:25] Mr. Ammar, I want to ask you about a point,
[00:23:28] I mean,
[00:23:30] your center has studied it more than once, I think, and more than one workshop
[00:23:34] and more than one discussion and dialogue on the topic of Law 107. Do you agree with Mr.
[00:23:37] Bishr in what
[00:23:38] he said?
[00:23:42] I mean, I see Law 107 as a starting point. It is not
[00:23:46] necessarily the best written, but it is a point
[00:23:49] from which we can start. The problem is, I mean, we are
[00:23:52] coming out of 14 years of revolution and war against the Syrian
[00:23:57] sick, sluggish body that
[00:24:01] was afflicted with the deadly disease of centralization
[00:24:04] and the disease of tyranny and outrageous killing and injustice,
[00:24:08] and also the disease of dispersion and fragmentation that we experienced
[00:24:11] in, I mean, we were in northern Syria,
[00:24:15] every local council had IDs and had
[00:24:18] cars, and we had a government
[00:24:23] even in the south, it was, I mean, a situation. So,
[00:24:26] we, we, I mean, we want to move to the new
[00:24:29] Syria. We do not want to return to deadly centralization. I mean,
[00:24:35] the center, we have written about decentralization extensively
[00:24:38] to dispel the illusory fears that
[00:24:43] other hand, we also do not want to, I mean, simplify
[00:24:46] decentralization in all its types and forms as if it is the magic
[00:24:50] solution that will solve all problems, because, I mean,
[00:24:53] if you don't have institutions and you start with decentralization based on ethnicity
[00:24:57] or on a component of the components and there are no state
[00:25:00] institutions to support it, I mean, you need institutionality
[00:25:03] at a minimum level of infrastructure that
[00:25:06] decentralization
[00:25:11] should not be based on national, ethnic, or sectarian grounds. Administrative
[00:25:15] decentralization, which means administrative distribution, is not
[00:25:18] something related to components. Yes,
[00:25:21] yes, I mean, there are two points I am trying
[00:25:25] to make. The first point is that decentralization is an administrative
[00:25:29] system, whether it is political, administrative, or financial
[00:25:32] decentralization, it is a system of distributing resources
[00:25:35] and distributing powers and responsibilities
[00:25:39] entrusted to each party. Therefore, I will call it distribution
[00:25:42] of powers. So, if the distribution is closer to
[00:25:46] the local, it will be more decentralized
[00:25:50] in this spectrum of forms. Therefore, we are talking about local,
[00:25:54] not about a population component, because in Syria, we do not
[00:25:57] have a geographical area, I mean,
[00:26:00] exclusive to one component over another.
[00:26:11] based on displacement, and some of it is based on circumstances,
[00:26:15] the environment
[00:26:18] and energy and water resources and so on. So this
[00:26:22] is history we inherited. This is a geographical land we inherited. The geographical
[00:26:25] distribution of regions or
[00:26:28] governorates is not necessarily sacred, of course.
[00:26:32] But it naturally distributes among the residents of
[00:26:36] each region, giving them powers to choose
[00:26:39] their representatives, giving them perhaps
[00:26:42] financial powers in making decisions, holding them accountable
[00:26:45] through the judiciary rather than having a central body
[00:26:49] that will tell them how to act, but rather
[00:26:52] the central body should ideally play a supervisory
[00:26:56] role, a training role, capacity building,
[00:27:00] a role, I mean, the principle of subsidiarity in law states that as long as
[00:27:03] a task can be performed locally,
[00:27:05] why
[00:27:10] the budget from the center to the regions, or should a part of it be allocated for certain
[00:27:14] things, for certain services,
[00:27:17] local output? And how will
[00:27:22] in Syria, especially since there are richer regions than others? For example,
[00:27:25] the Syrian Al-Jazira is a region much richer than regions in Syria that do not
[00:27:29] have resources. Perhaps the Syrian coast has resources, it has the sea,
[00:27:33] it has tourism. How do we talk about
[00:27:36] resource distribution and budgets between the center
[00:27:40] and the regions?
[00:27:43] I mean, there are many systems for fair distribution. What we were
[00:27:46] living was pure injustice. Yes, and it was deadly
[00:27:49] centralization. I mean, there are many forms of
[00:27:53] distributing powers to make decisions in financial
[00:27:56] matters. I mean, there are many types of
[00:27:59] resources, taxes, and so on. You have, of course, resources that are underground
[00:28:03] and resources above ground are another thing. I mean, also,
[00:28:06] resources that are underground in all systems are the property
[00:28:10] of society, and water is the property of society. So, you
[00:28:14] have, I mean, water and pasture, you have oil that is underground.
[00:28:18] Certainly, there is a certain percentage
[00:28:21] that is invested to employ the residents
[00:28:24] of the area, especially since there are deadly
[00:28:27] environmental impacts from many of these resources, such as oil
[00:28:31] and gas and so on. Therefore, in many systems, there
[00:28:34] is a certain share reserved for development
[00:28:37] and to compensate for the side effects. I mean, you
[00:28:41] have a governorate that is a transit area for cars,
[00:28:45] for example. So, certainly, this transit has a cost on the
[00:28:50] because they have a border
[00:28:53] systems give a larger share to the governorate
[00:28:56] in which the resource of the crossing or the resource
[00:29:00] of oil and so on is located. But after that, it can be distributed according to the number
[00:29:04] of residents. It can be distributed according to the percentage of national output
[00:29:07] for each governorate or the percentage of residents of that
[00:29:12] projects, meaning the governorate submits projects
[00:29:16] and wins them. either by lottery or according to
[00:29:19] the size of the resources. We do not have these imaginary resources that
[00:29:23] many other countries have. Therefore, you need a formula
[00:29:26] that preserves also
[00:29:29] the center and preserves the right of the local population. Then you have
[00:29:35] local fees that can be a full share
[00:29:38] for the local community, for example.
[00:29:41] That is, there are many forms. You cannot give one solution
[00:29:45] and one prescription and say this is the magical solution
[00:29:51] no magical solution in decentralization or centralization. But Mr. Fuad
[00:29:54] mentioned that the magical solution is decentralization. Well, Mr. Fuad, if
[00:29:58] we ask you, you were talking about magical solutions and about
[00:30:01] guarantees
[00:30:04] for certain components because of
[00:30:07] fears, and knowing that fears are among all the people of Syria, between
[00:30:11] a majority and a minority, and we do not like this name,
[00:30:14] but this is a reality that imposes itself now,
[00:30:18] will end anyway. What are the guarantees
[00:30:22] in your demands related to decentralization, that
[00:30:25] the matter will turn into something like a separation between the center
[00:30:29] and the peripheries politically.
[00:30:33] I agree with you that the fear is mutual between
[00:30:36] the two sides.
[00:30:40] Syrian
[00:30:42] the Kurds. Just mentioning the word Kurd
[00:30:46] recalls the old culture from 50 years ago
[00:30:49] that the Ba'ath planted. We were demanding citizenship.
[00:30:53] We were