The Aspirations and Concerns of the Druze in the Next Constitution of Syria

2020-01-14
Writer: Farah Murshed
As a group of Syrians, Constitutional Committee Members, prepare to introduce their country's new constitution draft, Syrians will generally face great obstacles arising from several reasons. The first of these reasons is the lack of experience and expertise, as it did not happen that the Syrians contributed to making or amending their constitution, except for 1950 constitution. Rather, constitutions and their amendments were always imposed on them, whether by the colonial authorities before 1946 or by the subsequent authorities. The second of these reasons is that the authoritarian regimes have created problems in the structure of society, and deep chasm among their groups. The last of these reasons the serious consequences of the disastrous war on Syrian people's lives, relations and thinking. These three causes combined led to a serious lack of trust between the groups, in addition, it led to increase the hatred between them to unprecedented levels, which will certainly be reflected in this important document's drafting, which will set the legal and political framework for governing the country, and determine its paths.
The previous Syrian constitution paved a wide scope for confessional courts, which deal with sectarian affairs and preserve their privacy. Therefore, any constitution that threatens the existence of these confessional courts may arouse the chaste of members of the sects, specially the Druze, specifically regarding their marriage issues. Perhaps the relationship of religion to the constitution, the type of religious rulings which will be included in the constitution's items, and the way in which these items are drafted, is what will constitute the fundamental and most difficult disagreement point, as they are contentious contrary issues, and it usually gets Al-Assad time, disagreement and debate. These differences are worsened in countries with religious and sectarian diversity, such as Syria and Lebanon, which include at the same time many forces and secular groups, who wish to eliminate what is sacred from the constitution and public affairs. Hence, the concerns of Druze community regarding constitution agree with those of other religions, all of which are civil constitutions. Nevertheless, the Druze’s great concern and fear remain centered on the governance structure and the position towards the state's centralization; Although it has been demonstrated internationally that the decentralization is possible in the new Syrian constitution, it may contradict with the societal nature of Druze people, as tribalism is greatly dominant in peace phases and it is that which will govern by tribal quotas. This, as a result, would lead to the marginalization of competent specialists of the few clans, since the local leaders' group, especially those from strong clan basis, observe each other; Who will rule the mountain?( Al-Atrash, Prince of the Mountain, Um Al-Amir, the influential ruler of a large number of villages, Umm Al-Halabi, the son of the most numerous tribe, or Al-Hunaidi, the owner of the political house, or Al-Hijri, the owner of religious heritage?) However, assuming their agreement is what worries the members of the sect, that is, we are heading to a region that resembles the Lebanese state in terms of the idea of quotas.
Hence, we can state in principle, that the secular constitution is the solution; the constitution that separates the sacred text from government and legislation, and it adopts the principles of the modern state in accordance with pluralism and religious, national and cultural diversity. Therefore, eliminating the religious text from the constitution and establishing sound-constitutional rules that guarantee the rights of individuals and their personal freedoms, is what assures the basic of every citizen, and it cannot be neglected, so that we may be able to succeed in building our new state.