Presidential Candidate Mahmoud Meri says his electoral program focuses on Syrian refugees’ return to contribute to reconstructing their homeland
Presidential Candidate for the opposition’s “Syrian Democratic Front” Mahmoud Meri has stated that his electoral program focuses on the need to help the Syrian refugees return to their homeland to contribute to its reconstruction, calling on all the Syrians to participate in voting and choosing the most efficient candidate to lead Syria.
Interviewed by the Syrian “Al-Ikhbariyya” TV last night, Meri said that millions of Syrians abroad, including refugees and expatriates, were deprived of practicing their right to vote in the presidential elections held abroad on May 20th, because some countries, such as Turkey, Germany and the United States among others, have banned holding this electoral process on their territories. He regretted attacks on Syrian voters in Lebanon, stressing that these aggressive acts were fueled by thugs affiliated to some political forces that adopt hostile stances towards Syria and that have links to the Zionist enemy. He affirmed the need to bring back the Syrian refugees to their homeland from Lebanon, Jordan , Turkey and other parts of the world and secure a decent life for them, thereby preventing them from being used by Syria’s enemies for political purposes.
He pointed out that the Syrian presidential elections were held peacefully in other countries, such Australia, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Egypt, Kuwait among others, and turn out for voting was good.
On the role of western countries, mainly the United States, in fueling the crisis in Syria, Meri said that the United States has destroyed Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Vietnam and attacked Japan with a nuclear bomb. The U.S. is a colonialist state and now it is trying to destroy Syria, occupying swathes of its land to steal and smuggle its resources, including oil and agricultural crops in cooperation with the US-led militia. In addition, it is imposing an illegal economic blockade on the Syrians targeting their livelihood to pressure the Syrian state and weaken it to serve the Zionist enemy and maintain it as the strongest power in the region.
He reiterated that as a presidential candidate, he is against the American-Zionist scheme in the region.
Meri criticized Europe’s negative policy towards Syria, saying “we hope that Europe can be independent in its decision and lift the sanctions it has imposed on our country and that have badly affected the Syrians’ livelihood, but unfortunately, America imposes the sanctions and Europe as well as some Arab countries follow the US policies.”
The Presidential candidate highlighted the destructive role played by Turkey in Syria, clarifying that Turkey was a friend of Syria before the war on the country started, but suddenly everything changed after the crisis and the Turkish aspirations concerning the Syrian land and factories began to surface.
He said that Turkey has allowed the influx of terrorists from all countries of the world to the Syrian territories. It also bombed, destroyed and occupied Syrian territories.
“As a presidential candidate, I consider Turkey as an occupying state and it must leave either peacefully or voluntarily, otherwise, the Syrians will form popular resistance fronts to expel the Turkish occupation forces from Syria, including from Alexandretta.
Meri went on to say that he is against federalism in Syria and against the self rule administration called for by the US-backed Kurdish militia. He stressed that the Kurds are an integral part of the Syrian social fabric.
He asserted the need to preserve the civil peace and peaceful coexistence that characterize the Syrian society, calling for amending some articles in the 2012 Syrian constitution in a way that helps Syria be a state where all citizens enjoy equal citizenship.
The presidential candidate affirmed that fighting corruption, supporting agriculture and industry and creating suitable job opportunities for the Syrian youths are among his priorities.
Hamda Mustafa