The Daily Star Editorial

The Monday meeting between Syrian dissidents sanctioned by the authorities who jailed many of them was always going to be a delicate liaison.

Given the reaction of those in power in Damascus to the demands made by thousands of peaceful demonstrators across Syria for more than 100 days, the meeting of over 100 participants must be viewed as a nice surprise.
Although rather novel, the gathering is not without precedent; a decade ago a series of similar gatherings prompted calls for reform in such a public setting that some moved to label the negotiations as the Damascus Spring.

The dialogue was abruptly truncated and several participants were jailed by the administration. Needless to say, no reform ensued and the mooted changes were largely forgotten.
Given the comparisons, the world is inclined to ask what President Bashar Assad’s motivation is for allowing talks now. After all, by inviting opposition and dissident figures to come and express themselves, Assad is essentially encouraging the airing of demands which have hardly changed in 10 years, and are barely different from the grievances daubed on protest banners throughout the land.

Is this a genuine effort to engage with these people in a belated but welcome change of tack? Is it a PR exercise which coincides a little too conveniently with the invitation of several foreign media outlets to Damascus? Or is it merely the authorities buying time to deal with the continuing crisis?

Time, of course, will tell. Assad, whose reaction to widespread protests demanding increased freedom has been the two-pronged approach of violent crackdown and obfuscating televised address, is short on capital of trust. Again, time will tell if the president is earnest in his stated desire to implement reform.

The glaring contradiction skimmed over by Assad supporters is that many of the political reform ideas he will have heard from the meeting may be ones he claims to agree with, but they are the same concepts that men and women are being shot by his security forces for daring to utter in the street. It would be easier to believe his supposed support for change in Syria if the steady stream of dead protesters dried up.

The announcement by the authorities that there will be a round of deliberations between authorities and opposition figures on July 10 is, however, a positive step. It is to be hoped that sustained dialogue will open up a wider avenue for transparent political debate, as well as the opportunity for an exchange of trust. The government is in debit in this regard, and needs to do much more to placate ordinary Syrians and international observers alike.
It will take a while before the true significance of Monday’s discussions can be evaluated. In the immediate sense, however, it is easy to see an administration talking to opposition figures, rather than jailing them, as relative progress.