Bashar al-Assad concluded the last year with a song that has gone viral on social media platforms, drawn from words he used in his speeches in 2023. The song was notable for its wit, yet it did not fully reflect what the president was thinking or his upcoming plans to save the country's economy from the ongoing collapse.
Assad longs for conferences and addressing his "people" in a language that his speechwriters have excelled in diversifying, making it eloquent and superior, emphasizing his level of knowledge, filled with wittiness and riddles!
People have become accustomed to hearing those speeches and marveling at them since the beginning of his rule, with some even dubbing the president as "the intellectual" – because even when he improvises his speech, he does not forgo those distinctive features.
It seems that his speech at the Arab Islamic Summit Conference in Jeddah has rekindled Assad's desire – after a long hiatus – to be heard by others and to receive their admiration for what he says, so he returned to them in a special meeting with the central committee of the Ba'ath Party.
Sweeping Attack
Bashar al-Assad directed several serious accusations at his own loyalists! After disassociating himself from the destruction he caused in Syria, his opponents, the areas that rose against him, and thoroughly washing his hands of the blood of innocent Syrians under international cover, he now focused on his chosen people!
The loyalists, who have cemented the pillars of his rule and tightened their grip on his blood-stained hands – the blood of their children and relatives – and turned a blind eye to his crimes, some even confident of his innocence – these very people are now receiving the vitriol that Assad poured upon them in his speech, branding them as a "fifth column," but with a new definition!
"The fifth column, in our current understanding, is not necessarily made up of agents and traitors, no, there are frustrated groups and they are frustrating because they want to frustrate others, because when they disappoint others they feel they are in their natural place. There's a trivial person who wants to see others as trivial as they are because that makes them feel like they belong, in their natural habitat. There's a selfish coward who wants to believe that everyone else thinks like him, so he markets his way with the narrative."
And he described those who call themselves activists – who fill social media with criticism of officials and grumble about the collapsed state of the country, the high prices, lack of electricity, water scarcity, and insufficient income that can't cover the cost of bread, and no fuel for heating – as "the insignificant ones." He said:
You may have heard the Prophet's saying about the insignificant ones – I don't recall it verbatim – but he said: "There will come years where the liar is believed, and the truthful are doubted, the trustworthy is betrayed… reaching the point where 'the insignificant ones' speak," it was asked, 'What are the insignificant ones?' He said, 'When the trivial person speaks on public affairs.'
Imagine that this issue has existed for 14 centuries, the insignificant ones are part of human society, and there are many insignificant people today on social media, but instead of being called insignificant they are called experts… today most of them are experts!
The Economy and its State
Assad tells us about the economy in the country, saying – and may the listeners live long – that some – and there are many of these some – pretend that the economy was skyrocketing like a rocket before the war, but it wasn't! According to Assad's opinion.
The economy in the country before the war was not good, and perhaps this contributed to the outbreak of the war that the West exploited against the state. As for political money, it is – in his opinion – for a big political goal, so there is no need to exaggerate it. It is favoritism that may lead – perhaps – to corruption, or it is just corruption and has nothing to do with favoritism; it means money for personal interests.
The Spices of Speech
Assad must showcase some phrases that prove the breadth and comprehensiveness of his culture, which are essential spices to flavor the dish, and in this speech, he used the term "demagogy."
This term reflects Assad's linguistic unconscious that approaches, merges, borrows, and deduces, making it closest to the "brain" manufacturing that Assad excelled at through the vast amounts of drugs he released into the markets, smuggled to other countries, and sparked a real war between him and Jordan.
A discerning observer of Assad's speech this time would see that he described himself and spoke of them with all transparency!
The State's Shortcomings and the Shortfall of Awareness
Assad talked about the nature of the relationship between the citizen and the state and the lack of awareness among citizens who sometimes succumb to destructive ideas, whether intentionally or due to their ingrained stupidity, and consequently criticize the state and accuse it of neglect.
Assad posed a rhetorical question about these individuals: "Some say what has the state provided… we ask them: What have you provided for the state?". This statement – "stolen, of course", from the Tunisian singer Aliya's song: "I won't say what Egypt has given us, rather what will I give to Egypt" – encapsulates Assad's perception of the people who should be the primary source of income for the state. When the economy collapses, and the state goes bankrupt, it turns to its citizens as a cash reserve!
This is the crux of Assad's speech, a clear call for his loyal citizens to abandon their selfish interests for the sake of the state, of which he is a part — indeed, he is the entirety. The call includes sacrificing properties, each citizen according to what they own, with parity in giving, all heads are placed in one bridle, no distinction between those who own billions and those who have just enough to cover their nakedness. "Those who are enthusiastic should throw in their hats," and only if Bashar al-Assad – from those who write his speeches – had a writer comparable to the Egyptian critic "Jalil al-Bindari," who suggested to those who criticized "Sabah" in that song on newspaper pages and attacked her, to change the beginning of the song: "The enthusiast should throw in the cannon, surrendering it to Qaraqush the Manufactured". And since now is the era of Captagon, he has the opportunity to compose a song that suits the reality. Let the enthusiasts throw whatever they want from the hallucinations of poverty, humiliation, and destruction they are living in.
