An increasingly rancourous dispute over control of the opposition alliance has pushed the SNC to the brink of collapse in Istanbul over the past five days.“If we do not solve our internal problems here and now there will be no coalition left to speak of,” an SNC member said.
What was supposed to be a brief conference dealing with a host of pressing issues has, instead, become an embarrassing display of internal politicking and inefficiency. It has undermined the already threadbare credibility of the main opposition alliance, both inside Syria and in the eyes of its international backers.
An opposition organiser in Damascus said the SNC had missed a chance to make itself relevant, just as the Syrian crisis is dramatically escalating and a strong, united opposition front was needed.
“The fighting groups and the activists working inside Syria were demanding to be represented in the coalition but remain excluded,” he said. “Since it was formed the SNC has done nothing tangible on the ground, it is a failure.”
Problems within the SNC came to a head in the early hours of yesterday morning
A secular grouping, led by veteran dissident Michael Kilo, together with other, smaller blocs, had sought to add 22 seats to the 63-member alliance. The Kilo grouping is a liberal, broadly secular bloc that its supporters say would counter the dominance of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and help reassure the SNCÂ’s international allies that it will safeguard sectarian and ethnic minorities.
But, in a 3am vote yesterday, after four days of deadlocked, at times angry, talks, just eight new seats were approved. Six members from Mr KiloÂ’s bloc, were given places in the SNC - far short of the 25 it had opened the negotiation process with on Thursday. Adding more than 20 seats would have significantly altered the balance of power within the SNC.
Broad inclusion of Mr KiloÂ’s group would have weakened a widely held perception of excessive dominance dominance of the Muslim Brotherhood, one major faction, and a grouping headed by the Qatari-backed SNC secretary general, Mustafa Sabbagh.
The SNC has a reputation even in opposition circles, as being controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, with backing of Qatar and, to a lesser extent, Turkey.