Published On 5/11/2025
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Last update: 00:33 (Mecca time)
A heated debate raged between the two guests of the “The Opposite Direction” episode on the issue of federalism, which some are calling for to be implemented in the new Syria. While the first defended federalism as the ideal solution, the second said that the goal of those calling for it is to perpetuate division in Syria.
Member of the German Parliament, Jian Omar – a Syrian of Kurdish origin – supports the option of implementing a federal system in Syria, claiming that the current situation requires it while the country has been divided for 14 years, claiming that “the current regime does not want to build a state, but rather reproduce dictatorship in the guise of religious jihad, which is what the Syrian components reject.”
He said – during his hosting in the opposite direction – that federal rule “is a necessity required by the Syrian situation because it guarantees the unity of the country and the absence of corruption,” and he saw that the present time is the most appropriate time to implement federalism in Syria, as it is the ideal solution.
On the other hand, writer and politician Abdel Moneim Zein al-Din accused some of trying to distort the joy of the Syrians over the success of their revolution and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, by proposing projects that he described as scandalous, including separatist ones such as those demanded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including federalism, which he believes has no room for implementation in Syria for several reasons.
Federal conditions
One of the conditions for implementing the federal system – continues the guest of the episode (11/4/2025) of the “The Opposite Direction” program – is that the country be stable, which is not present in Syria now, in addition to the fact that 10 million Syrians are spread abroad and have not been asked about their opinion on the matter.
Zein al-Din pointed out that the countries that merged into a federal system were confederations or heterogeneous blocs and then united within this system, similar to the United States of America in 1789 and Switzerland in 1848.
Also, one of the conditions for federalism is that it be the subject of consensus and consensus among the components, and here Zein al-Din asked, “Does (SDF) represent northern and eastern Syria? And in the south, are the people of Suwayda the only ones talking about separatist projects?”, stressing that those demanding federalism in Syria are clearly entrenching the division.
The representative in the German Parliament did not like Zain al-Din’s words, and he addressed him, saying: “You are marginalizing everyone and want the rule to be yours.” He accused the current regime of being non-participatory, and asked disapprovingly, “Why would the Druze and Suwayda accept this regime that deprives them of their most basic political rights?” And “Why will the Kurds accept this system?”
Regarding the availability of conditions for federal or self-government in Syria, Jian Omar saw that those ruling today in the SDF areas are not the Kurds alone, and that the bulk of the organization’s components are Arab and Assyrian. He said that they are not demanding a national or religious federalism, but rather a participatory federalism, and “whoever rejects federalism wants the mentality of the Baath Party and one party.”
But Zain al-Din saw that those calling for federalism and decentralization were talking about secession, and not about administrative and other powers. The German parliamentarian responded by saying, “We demand a parliament in Qamishli that represents the residents of the region, and the Kurds who demand administrative federalism do not represent the Kurds.”
Writer and politician Zein al-Din criticized the SDF’s experience and said that it had plundered Syria’s wealth over the course of 10 years, and prevented citizens from even declaring their solidarity with the new regime on Facebook, in addition to oppression and treason in its areas.
The representative in the German Parliament responded by saying, “The SDF areas are not ideal, but the Idlib areas were not ideal either.”
Old projects
Jian Omar faults the new authority in Syria for “making concessions abroad, to Israel and Turkey, but it does not make concessions to its people: I speak with Hikmat Al-Hijri, with Mazloum Abdi, and with all the Syrian components that present national demands.”
In turn, Zein al-Din stressed that the projects currently being proposed did not come in response to the events that took place in Suwayda, but rather they are old projects and the SDF was negotiating with the ousted regime that handed over those areas to them to be part of the separatist project.
The discussion heated up between the two guests of the “The Opposite Direction” program about the issue of raising the Syrian flag in the SDF areas, and Zain al-Din told the representative in the German Parliament: “We will raise this flag against the control of the SDF in Qamishli, Al-Hasakah, and Raqqa,” but the representative responded to him that the SDF itself had raised the flag.