The Syrian government needs to build on the relatively peaceful day of protests Friday and the official indications that the regime would cease using force against the protesters and undertake democratic reforms.
As on Fridays for the past month and a half, Syrian people took to the streets and called for their rights; their demonstrations this time, however, were reportedly met with an order from President Bashar Assad for security forces not to fire on the protesters, although credible media reports say that three citizens lost their lives in Homs.
Friday’s mass demonstrations throughout the country offered substantial proof that if the Syrian people are allowed to assemble to express their political views, they can do so peacefully and without causing harm. At the same time, Friday also showed that the security forces can also deal peacefully with the protesters and in fact protect their right to demonstrate, an arrangement that is one of the pillars of democracy.
If such a policy of restraint had been followed by the state since mid-March, the situation in Syria never needed to deteriorate to the point where hundreds of people died, the economy was wounded, reputations sullied and international sanctions adopted.

Looking to the future, though, the policy implemented Friday and the official statements made present the best way forward for the regime. Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said that the army had completed its withdrawal from Daraa, the southern town which has been the epicenter of the protests, and the military had begun to pull out of the restive coastal town of Banias. Bouthaina Shaaban, a close adviser of Assad, also pledged Friday that the regime would next week begin a national dialogue to discuss reforms of laws concerning political parties, elections and the media.

At this point, however, those are merely statements; Shaaban made a raft of similar promises in March that democracy would soon blossom in Syria, but her words remained unfulfilled. As such, pronouncements from the regime on imminent reform must be read with a heaping dose of apprehension.
The international community, for its part, is still being remarkably patient with the Assad regime – far fewer people had died in Tunisia and Egypt when Western capitals began calling for regime change.

Clearly, Assad still has a space – however tiny – to reconsider his policy toward the protesters. He can still take advantage of that space, and the next few days will be critical to provide concrete evidence to the world of an end to the crackdown and a genuine commitment to democratic measures.
Considering the bravery of the Syrian demonstrators, they have earned the right to a change in policy. They deserve to enjoy the full measure of their rights and freedoms, and it is time for the regime to show that it thinks so, too.