Activists Threaten to Desert Syrian National Council
The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of activists on the ground in Syria, threatened Thursday to pull out of opposition bloc the Syrian National Council over its "monopolization" of power.
The threat came after Paris-based academic Burhan Ghalioun was reelected head of the exiled coalition in the face of opposition by some members of the secretariat and rules that require the president's rotation every three months.
"The deteriorating situation in the SNC is an impetus for us to take actions, which could begin with a freeze (of LCC membership in the SNC) and end with a withdrawal if errors are not solved and demands for reform go unmet," the LCC said in a statement.
These "errors" were "a total absence of consensus between the SNC's vision and that of the revolutionaries"; "a marginalization of most (LCC) representatives"; and "a monopolization of decision-making by influential members of the executive bureau."
The SNC was particularly criticized for not sufficiently coordinating with activists on the ground, and for the strong influence wielded by Syrian Muslim Brotherhood representatives.
Most opposition forces agreed in March, after laborious negotiations, that the SNC would be the "formal representative" of the Syrian people, despite calls for its restructuring.
The move came in response to calls from the international community that the Syrian opposition must unify its ranks.
Source: Agence France Presse
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