Syria's Prime Minister Riyad Hijab deserted Bashar al-Assad's government and fled the country yesterday in a symbolically powerful move that could hasten the downfall of the brutal regime.
Hijab immediately allied himself with the rebel forces fighting for Syria’s freedom in a move that was quickly hailed by the US and other countries pressing for a quick solution to the crisis.
Although the prime minister has no real powers in Syria, Hijab’s exit is being touted as the biggest defection to hit the government to date, signalling the beginning of the endgame for Bashar’s regime which has butchered thousands of people since the uprising began.
“I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution,” Hijab said in a statement read by a spokesman on Al Jazeera television. “I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution.”
Rebel sources are said to be pleased with his departure but still suspicious of his motives because of his long affiliation to the Baath party, but there’s no denying the fact that his defection could motivate other high-ranking members of the regime to follow suit.
A spokesman for US President Barack Obama hailed Hijab’s defection as a sign that the 40-year rule of Assad’s family was “crumbling from within” and said he should step down.
However, this may not happen any time soon. The Syrian regime has withstood international diplomatic pressure and maintained a stranglehold on the country through lethal force despite regular predictions of its imminent collapse.
The West, its Gulf allies and Turkey have all failed to find a solution to the crisis, with Kofi Annan, the special envoy appointed to broker a solution, eventually quitting his position because of sheer frustration. United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon also was so upset with the failure of world powers to oust al-Assad that he told them in no uncertain terms overcome their rivalries and put an end to the “proxy war” in Syria.
Ban spoke on Friday ahead of a UN General Assembly vote that overwhelmingly condemned the Security Council for its failure to act and slammed President Bashar al-Assad’s use of heavy weapons in the nearly 17-month civil war.
Hijab, aged in his late 40s, was a top official of the ruling Baath party but, like other senior defectors so far from the government and armed forces, he was also a Sunni and had little real authority. Assad appointed Hijab, formerly agriculture minister, as prime minister in June following a parliamentary election which authorities said was a step towards political reform but which opponents dismissed as a sham.
But, his defection could be a turning point in the Syrian crisis. Finally, there could be some cheer round the corner for the beleaguered people of the nation.