Enab Baladi

Following the speech of the participant president of what is known as the constitutive council of the Federal system (Rojava – North of Syria), Hedaya Yousef, last April, of a close birth and adoption of a new constitution known as “the Social Contract”, and her last statements of an intention to complete the constitution within three months to be followed by elections, supportive as well as opposing reactions consecutively followed on the Kurdish street.

Despite assurance by Yousef of a quick crystallization of the “Federal Union”, which some Syrian Kurdish parties and allies plan to establish, as well as holding consultative meetings on a society level in order to draft a new constitution, yet other Kurdish parties as well as Arab and Assyrian political parties refuse what is happening, and consider federalism as “out of question” in the Middle East.

The content of the “Social Contract”

The “constitution” focuses in its introduction (which is part of the body of the contract) on that federalism “founded on principles and culture of mother of gods”, Azizi considered that the concept is not applicable at all in the Middle East area. To talk about the content of the social contract, Enab Baladi communicated with head of the Representation of Kurdish national council, in Kurdistan region in Iraq, Kawa Azizi, who said that a committee following the executive body of the constitutive council has formed it, consisting of 11 chapters and 85 legal article.

The head of representation of the “Kurdish National” believes that the contract is firmly against establishing any entity, region or area under a nationalist name, given that it “opposes the national idea, and we are talking about Kurds in here, and they have no chance in here to establish an entity, region or area, since it will be exclusively based on a geographical administrative basis.”

The “contract” focuses on the ultimate freedom of woman outside any laws, and it directs woman to fight the masculine dominance of man. Azizi considers this kind of freedom as “unacceptable”, and a beginning of a directed thought towards destroying family ties in the Kurdish society, adding “this logic is unacceptable neither for nationalists nor heavenly religions.”

Within its general principles’ section, the contract talks about the ultimate equality between the majority and minority, religions and sects and between man and woman. Azizi points to the fact that the society she talks about “only exists in the imagination of the people of the contract.”

“An unjustified repetition” for some rights starting with environment and ending with woman, the head of representation of the “Kurdish National” could not find a justification for, while he pointed to expressional restriction to all rights relating to organizing the society including “communes, academics, cooperatives, unions, councils” and others.

Azizi hastily pointed that the contract considers the education body as the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and responsible for the educational system based on the concept of democratic nation, while he asserted that the Economic Body will be based on cooperative communist basis, “which is proven to be a failure through history in eastern Europe and China.”

The Kurdish National Council member summarized his vision regarding the “contract” as “written by unknown people who have no relation to law or constitution,” and that “it does not allow establishing any Kurdish entity in Syria, rather it misses out on a historical chance available to solve the Kurdish issue constitutionally through Geneva negotiations.”

The Regulatory Body of the Constituent Council announced the date of their next meeting on the 27th of June, during which they will set the final date for meeting to ratify the draft of the “Social Contract”.

The contract lacks mass participation”

Azizi was not the only one who criticized the what so-called “Social Contract”, Hamdo Yousef, chairman of the leadership Body of the Kurdish “Future” movement in Syria – founded by Mashaal Tammo in 2015 – also agrees with him.

Yousef considers the draft suggested by the “Democratic Union Party” lacks mass participation formula, within a political project that is inclusive and diverse nationally and religiously, not to mention that it does not reflect any real partnership spirit, rather it could be classified within proactive projects of aborting any serious action, as he put it, adding “we are used to introducing projects at the wrong place and time by this organization, with all of its different names, starting with the slogan of liberating and unifying the four parts of Kurdistan with the launching of military actions in 1984 in Turkey, ending with the Federal and Self-Management project, both of which have not yet achieved any gains or political recognition.”

In his interview with Enab Baladi, the Kurdish politician demanded “the Democratic Union, which the circumstances enabled it to be a de facto authority”, to act slowly in “putting forward decisive projects in an individual and hastily manner”, calling for “putting people’s interest prior to the party’s instantaneous interest and standing again to the Kurdish side”, he also addressed a message to the political powers in Syria to take the initiation of adopting an agreed-upon democratic constitution that “organizes the relation between the Syrian people’s components to include all components, no matter how small in number some is.”

Pro-“Democratic Union” support the draft

Supporters of the “Democratic Union” Party had a different opinion, by which they supported the executive body that developed the draft, considering that the Federal System is the “best solution”.

The media personal and political writer, Abdul Ghani Othman, says in his interview with Enab Baladi that federalism is the best suited system to address historical, social and national issues in “Rojava, Kurdistan and Syria”, pointing that the draft “ensures participation of all individuals and groups equally in discussion, decisions and implementation, taking into consideration ethnical and religious differences according to the characteristics of each organized group, to be based on co-existence and brotherhood of people.”

In turn, Rustom Tayyeb, member of the Democratic Union Party from the city of Qamishly told Enab baladi that the province is a mixed population, considering that the draft “respects everyone regardless of the component, not to mention that implementing the contract on the ground will be successful in the coming period because its basis points meet the aspirations of all residents of the area.”

The Arab components disassociate themselves

Representatives of the Arab component in the Jazeera region have not spoken directly about the details of the “contract”, they rather disassociated themselves from what it contains; considering that appreciating the privacy of Arab tribes in Syria is the most important matter in here.

All the above mentioned was demonstrated in an interview with Juhood AlOmar, one of the tribe elders of “Bani Majul”, who believes, talking to Enab Baladi, that any Charter, whether it issued by the ‘Democratic Union’ or any other party, is welcomed as long as it respects the privacy of the tribes in the Syrian Jazeera, pointing that “the regime, passing from Assad the father to the son, sought to create disturbance between Arabs and Kurds, however, they have failed because the historical relations that tie the two components are much stronger and more tough than their cheap attempts.”

Assyrians: we don’t want dead letter

The Assyrians component’s opinion was expressed through lawyer Sameer Elia, who said to Enab Baladi “we don’t want the Charter to become dead letter, we want actions on ground”, adding “there are many things going on that cannot be ignored in the region, which is experiencing terrorist attacks every now and then.”

Elia believes that Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians and all existing components in Syria are brothers in history and geography, explaining “we want to live together on this precious and generous piece of land and have nothing to destabilize it.”

Despite the fact that the regulatory Body of the Constituent Council affiliated of the federal system has ratified the “Social Contract” by the end of last June, but they have encountered vast criticism, just like they have previously when adopting the federal system in March, even though their constituent meeting included representative of Arab, Assyrian, Turkmen and Armenian tribes.

The features of the suggested constitution are still vague, while analysts and opponents reduce the importance of the suggestion, especially that Washington (the main supporter of Kurdish units) earlier renewed their refusal to recognize areas of Self-Management in Syria, stressing that any federal model should be based on Geneva talks.

Phrases included within the draft of the “Social Contract” according to the Constituent Council

-We, people of “Rojava – north of Syria”, of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Turkmens, Armenians, Chechens, Circassians, Muslims, Christians and Yazidis, with all of our various doctrines and sects, are completely aware that the nationalistic state that has brought problems, severe crisis and atrocities to our people, all of which is evident in what our Syrian people, with its different components, are suffering from the injustice and tyranny of the nationalistic, totalitarian, tyrannical and Central regime.

-The Democratic Federal system in the contract depends on the culture of mother of gods, as well as the humanitarian and ethical heritage of apostles, prophets, philosophers and wise men, who are in search for truth, justice and equality, as well as, the cultural heritage and richness of the Syria, Kurdistan and Mesopotamia.