President Al-Assad: “People’s awareness is the standard that measures our ability to defy difficulties and distinguish between treason and patriotism and between revolution and terrorism”

President Bashar Al-Assad was sworn in on Saturday as president of the Syrian Arab Republic before Speaker of the People’s Assembly and MPs and in the presence of political, party, religious, cultural, sport and artistic figures, journalists and families of the martyrs and the inured.

 Following the oath taking ceremony, President Al-Assad delivered a speech in which he stressed that the Syrian people’s awareness and national belongingness have proved that people’s determination to defend their rights is unrelenting despite colonialists’ schemes.

The Syrian people, with their national unity, have fired the bullet of mercy on the schemes that targeted the homeland, he added.

“In the early stage of the war on Syria, enemies’ bet was on our fear of terrorism. Today, their bet is on turning the Syrian citizens into mercenaries, but the result was shocking,” President Al-Assad said, affirming that the Syrians inside the homeland are becoming stronger and more challenging, while those who deserted the homeland and were planned to be used against their country have turned into tools that offer services to the enemies when they need.

 “People’s awareness has been your fortress and our fortress and it is the standard that measures our ability to defy difficulties and distinguish between treason and patriotism and between revolution and terrorism,” the president made it clear.

President Al-Assad affirmed that the Syrian people have proved their adherence to their country’s constitution, thereby exposing the triviality of the claims of some western officials about the legitimacy of the state and the constitution.

President Al-Assad asserted that the stability of the society is a top priority and anything hurting the society’s security and safety is absolutely rejected, pointing out that any society that doesn’t respect and enhance values can never be a stable or a prosperous society. He stressed that the biggest cause of the crisis the Syrians have experienced has been the absence of values and morals.

He renewed his call on all those who were misled and who bet on the collapse of the state to return to their normal life under the umbrella of the homeland because “bets have failed and the homeland has stayed”.

President Al-Assad went on to say that over ten years of war, the Syrians had many concerns, starting with security and the unity of the homeland. However, today, most of these concerns are focusing on liberating the remaining territories held by terrorists and confronting the outcomes of this war on the country’s economy and the citizens’ livelihood.

“We trust our army’s ability to liberate the remaining Syrian territories from terrorism even if this takes more time. We belief in ourselves, our history and our civilization”, President Al-Assad reiterated, noting that “this belief has achieved the impossible, and this is what we need today to confront the economic war.”

President Al-Assad emphasized that focus in the coming stage will be on investments, mainly investment in renewable energy, which is a feasible and a profitable kind of investment, vowing to encouraging it through new legislations.

The people who have fought in a ferocious war on terrorism are undoubtedly able to build their economy

 “The people who have waged a ferocious war against terrorism and regained most of their lands from terrorists are undoubtedly able to build their economy within the most difficult circumstances and with the same strong will and determination,” President Al-Assad said, , reiterating that “the issue of liberating our lands from terrorists and from their Turkish and American sponsors will continue to be our goal.” 

The President made it clear that many factories and firms continued to work under terrorist shelling and siege and many others have expanded their activities despite the war, thus reflecting the determination of the owners of these facilities to continue production and maintain the country’s economy, stressing that some 3000 factories are currently under construction only inside the country’s industrial zones.

He said that the war and the economic blockade could not stop investment, calling for focusing on increasing the number of investment facilities and on speeding up production in order to reactivate the economy and improve the living conditions in as short time as possible.

President Al-Assad indicated that the biggest obstacle currently facing economy is the Syrian deposits frozen in the Lebanese banks, which are estimated at tens of billions of dollars, pointing out that overcoming this obstacle is associated with the change in the current circumstances in Lebanon.

He added that “the siege is another big obstacle which couldn’t prevent us from meeting the basic needs but it caused suffocations and it didn’t deprive us from production means and elements and but created difficulties. Therefore, we have to develop the way to alleviate its impacts gradually”.

He stressed that facilitating administrative procedures, making administrative reforms and fighting corruption are also necessary to improve the country’s economy.

According to President Al-Assad, the coming stage will focus on transparency and on providing electronic services so as to prevent corruption and achieve justice and equal opportunities.

He said the coming stage will focus on the modernization of laws and the expansion of anti-corruption campaigns, stressing that the strong will to work and produce should be available to achieve these goals, because without will, plans lead to no goals.

It is Syria’s constitutional duty to support any form of resistance against occupiers in the country

President Al-Assad saluted all the citizens who have kept steadfast and resisted the US occupation forces in Syria’s northeastern region and criticized those who cooperated with the Turkish occupation and allowed it to invade Syrian territories.

In this context, President Al-Assad affirmed the Syrian state’s constitutional, legal and moral duty to support any form of resistance that takes place anywhere across the country against the occupiers.

“This duty will be an absolute commitment that is not subject to any considerations until the occupied land is restored and the last terrorist and occupier is expelled, President Al-Assad said.

The president concluded his speech by saying: “let’s get ready for the future, let’s fight frustration with hope, inaction with work and let’s prepare for further construction and liberation, so that the homeland restores life.”

Hamda Mustafa