On Saturday, April 9th, the “SDC”, a spectrum of Democratic Forces and figures from the Syrian opposition held the second consultative meeting in the Swedish capital Stockholm. It was the preparatory meeting for “the conference of Democratic Forces and figures” to discuss a political vision for achieving better and greater representation of the Syrian opposition.

According to the statement by the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC or MSD), representatives of the American, British and Swiss Departments of State, thirty-nine representatives of the Syrian opposition forces and Democratic figures, as well as the sponsorship of the Ulf Palm International Foundation, participated in this meeting.

The SDC statement said, “The meeting, which includes a great spectrum of Syrians, aims to explain bad repercussions of Syria and to discuss the concept of the decentralized regime as a beginning point for a democratic national framework that preserves the unity of territories and the national sovereignty and creates a balance among the Syrian universal identity and local identities in order to achieve a just solution for the Kurdish issue and other ethnic minorities within an inclusive national framework and what the desired modern state regime is, in addition to the role of Democrats and work to unite them and organize their differences within the framework of their unity.”

At the opening of the meeting, Anna Sundstrom, the chairwoman of Ulf Palm International Center (a Swedish Foundation working for Democracy, Human Rights and peace), stressed the importance of holding such meetings in order to achieve peace and stability in Syria and the need to focus on democracy, justice around the world and the freedom of people because it is the only method for safety.

The first day of the two-day meeting included three sessions, the first of which touched on the reality of the Syrian state and the expected scenarios for the future of Syria as a state and homeland during the obstruction of the political process and also the possibility of protecting the unity of Syria during the division, the current occupation and the foreign military presence in it, in addition to the role of democratic forces for finding a method to save Syria from its current reality.

On the state of division in the country, Ilham Ahmed, the chairwoman of the Executive Body of the Syrian Democratic Council, referred that “there are levels of democracy, dictatorship, and fascism in different areas, and in other areas, there is a level of achieving democracy in northern and eastern Syria”.

“Democracy in the operational framework is a practical behavior and we must believe in these principles, so we must come together to be able to impose the solution nationally and in abroad.” she added.

The second session entitled “the form of government in Syria”, discussed the concept of decentralization and its forms including political, economic, administrative and expanded forms, where the participants agreed that decentralization is the main start for the solution in Syria, with some examples of cases that have recovered and they were similar to the Syrian case in its crisis and also discussed the impact of decentralization on women and their role in peace-building.
The third session entitled “practical steps to build a common space”, discussed the obstacles of the establishment of a Syrian Democratic Front, methods to unify the democratic speech in Syria, the role of democratic forces in the future of Syria and the possibility of turning these steps into a practical reality.

In conclusion, the activities of the first day gave the opportunity for participations that agreed on the principle of decentralization with the need to discuss for determining its form to preserve a unified Syria and maintain the Autonomous Administration, especially as Syria has a pioneering experience, where the first decentralized Constitution was established in 1920(the Constitution of King Faisal).

This meeting is the second one of its kind after the first meeting held in Stockholm on 13-14 December 2021, and those working on this path seek to build new prospects for the work and role of the Democratic Opposition and come up with a conference that unites its political visions that contribute to the advancement of a real political process.