Syria to hold dialogue conference amid criticism over inclusivity

By Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily

DAMASCUS/SWEIDA, Syria (Reuters) - Hundreds of Syrians will gather in Damascus on Tuesday for a one-day national dialogue conference, billed by the country's Islamist rulers as a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule. 

But critics have questioned the rushed preparation for the summit, the lack of minority representation and the weight it will ultimately hold in a political process steered so far by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist armed group that seized power in Syria after toppling former president Bashar al-Assad. 

Organisers say the conference will discuss recommendations that will help shape a constitutional declaration - intended to lay out the basic principles for Syria's new governing order - as well as a transitional justice system, a new economic framework and a plan for institutional reform, among other issues.

Its proposals will also be considered by a new transitional government that is set to take power on March 1 in Syria, according to Hassan al-Dughaim, spokesperson for the conference's preparatory committee.

The summit will be closely watched by Arab and Western capitals alike, which have conditioned full ties with Syria's new leaders - including the possible lifting of sanctions - on whether the political process is inclusive of Syria's ethnically and religiously diverse population, three diplomats said.

To put together the event, a seven-member preparatory committee hosted listening sessions organised by province, sometimes holding several two-hour sessions a day to fit in all of Syria's 14 regions over the course of a week.

Five of the committee members are either in HTS, or close to the group, and there are no Druze or Alawite members, both of which are significant minorities in Syria.

A total of 4,000 people across Syria attended the invite-only sessions, Dughaim said. 

Proponents say that process is a notable shift from decades of autocratic rule by the Assad family, when political dissent was often met with detention in a labyrinthine prison system.    

"This is a real democracy. We're getting what they want, all their observations, all their comments, put them together, and this will be the basis of the discussion," said Hind Kabawat, the only Christian on the otherwise Sunni Muslim committee.

"It's a process of the people, to the people, from the people."

BOX-TICKING EXERCISE

Others have criticised the lead-up to the conference, describing it as another signal of HTS's hold over the political process since ousting Assad.

Hassan Al-Khalaf, a 42-year-old pharmacist who fled to Belgium during Syria's war and attended one of the preparatory committee's sessions last week in Damascus, said he had concerns over how far his input would go. 

"Is it dialogue for the sake of dialogue, or will we be able to influence decisions?" he said.

HTS leader Ahmed Sharaa was appointed as Syria's interim president last month, a move analysts saw as formalising his status as Syria's new "strongman".

In his first address as president on January 30, Sharaa pledged a dialogue as "a direct platform for discussions, to listen to different points of view on our future political programme".

Ultimately, the conference was announced two days before the event. Some longtime Syrian opposition figures living abroad said they would be unable to attend due to the short notice.

No members of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria or the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were invited, officials from both groups told Reuters.

At least 24 invitations went out to figures in the southern province of Suwayda, home to the sizeable Druze minority.

But the spiritual leader of Syria's Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, expressed dissatisfaction. 

"Until now, we respect all opinions, but we haven't seen the ability to lead the country or shape a state in the correct way," he told Reuters in an interview. 

"We're going along with it, hoping that things will become organized or that something new will happen by the end of the transitional period," he said.

Hajri and others urged international involvement to ensure the process would produce a civilian state, with separation of powers and rule of law - but offers by the United Nations to help with the summit were not taken up by HTS, two Western diplomats and two U.N. officials said.

"To me, this looks like a box-ticking exercise," said Aron Lund, a fellow at Century International, a Middle East-focused think tank, saying HTS needed to signal a solid foundation for a transition but it was unclear how different opinions would be considered.

Lund noted that Washington and Europe would likely be in a bind over their stance on the process: if they accept it, they risk further empowering HTS; if they reject it and disengage with Damascus, Syria risks sliding into chaos.

Despite the criticisms, the chance at an open discussion - a first in Syria for decades - left many participating Syrians overjoyed.

Catherine Altalli, a Syrian human rights lawyer briefly detained during anti-government protests in 2011, attended a session for rural Damascus, saying she was happy despite concerns over how a new constitution would guarantee the rights of her Christian sect.

"This is the beginning of democratic life... where opinions are expressed freely, and that is something special," she said.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari in Damascus; Maya Gebeily and Yamaam Shaar in Sweida; Additional reporting by Firas Makdesi and Kinda Makieh; Editing by Sharon Singleton)