Is uniting the opposition a must?

As the socio-political order collapses, so too do the decades long illusions to which people had clung to, thus causing a loss of all the social values that their lives had been built on. In such moments, refusing and opposing the regime is enough. When society moves into the unknown, its people will hold on to what they know. As such, the presentation of a clear conception of a new socio-political order is a necessary prerequisite for any serious opposition, whether a political party, a coalition, or a united opposition front.

So far, we have not succeeded in convincing opposition parties and groups of the importance of articulating a vision, and working to form an alternative responsible for managing the transitional period. Communication between groups is limited to field coordination, and therefore remains less than people’s expectations, and less than what is needed to start making a difference.

Over the past five years, “Citizens in a State” have made numerous attempts to rally opposition forces around a clear political project:

• Before the municipal elections in 2016 and the subsequent establishment of the movement, “Citizens in a State” was first envisioned as a common ground for opposition groups aiming to form an alternative to a regime that was already clearly stumbling. But the attempt failed and was overshadowed by narrow considerations that did not allow the formation of this political alternative,
• In anticipation of the last parliamentary elections, we considered the disagreements of the ruling political parties over the electoral law as an opportunity to enact a law that would establish the legitimacy of the civil state, without falling to the pressures that influence the sectarian parties. We made a new attempt to gather opposition forces around a clear political proposal through the “Civil State” campaign. 43 public figures have participated in this campaign, the majority of whom were from the prominent opposition groups, while the rest were credible political, social, and media figures,
• The “Civil State” campaign was an essential step to unite a number of groups in a new effort to craft a political alternative. The Citizens in a State Movement played a key role in its formation and the coalition was supposed to yield candidates who were committed to the project. Unfortunately, the need for clarity was overshadowed by the focus on unification, and many parties preferred to expand the front into an electoral alliance that lost political clarity. This was evident in the results, and the alliance disintegrated with the end of the elections,
• When our recurrent warnings turned into reality with the October uprising, we considered this another opportunity to gather groups ready to take responsibility of the management of the transition, based on a political project, but the Front has until now, failed to take shape.

Nevertheless, we will not stop our efforts to unite the opposition groups over a clear political project. However, we must also strengthen the movement, in terms of support and organization, to raise its ability to confront and influence, as well as turning the balance of power in our favor, in order to be able impose our political project in the face of the sectarian leaders.