Nibal Bakfalouni

The interview held by Sham fm Radio Broadcasting Station last week with Ayman kahef; chief editor in Syriandays Network, turned out to be a rich material for discussion in public and specialist sites of social media. The opinions varied between supporting and opposing the content of the talk, as the interviewer received a number of calls from listeners asking for clarification, commenting or criticizing. A number of economy professors considered

Mr.kahef an advocate for the Government decisions, whereas others considered "If some specialized university professors do not analyze the syllabus and the ideas of the talk, and they speak as any other literate citizen…so what to expect from others? Mr. kahef replied to his critics on his Facebook page saying: I am not an advocate for the Government. It has the Ministry of Information and Universities and the staff working there, in addition to a thousand of lawyers consisted from people working in media, analysts and academics" pointing out that he is an advocate of the market economy and economy liberation; a policy which has been adopted by the Syrian Government since 2005. However, it was not applied properly so the results uncovered problems beneath.

 Mr. kahef added that all his attitudes stem from his liberal background not an emergency pragmatic attitude, clarifying that the transfer to the market economy- issued by a law and resolution made by the national conference, the Cabinet and the Parliament. There was a consensus to start a new decade of economy. This passes through a transitional era which impacts on people and economy and we should stand its burdens. We wished to move to this new era, but we failed as the consecutive Governments feared the reaction of the public, so they waited until it was too late! He pointed that we demand something in this regard, while we do quite its opposite, we wanted to fight corruption if it were against our interests, however we turn deaf ear about it in our house, family, avenue and institution if we benefited from it. The same corrupted person complains from corruption if he/she contacted another institution..the question is: Who is accountable and in front of what? The chief editor of Syriandays believes that economy requires the availability of "production", where all indicators show that our employee is not a productive one. The productivity of our employee does not exceed 30 minutes per day! How could be establish firm economy without productivity? I demand that all must produce and do the required duties before we demand our rights from the State. Concerning the issue of "the dependents" which has been thoroughly discussed,

Mr kahef explained that the State and society are responsible for the disabled, children, retired people and the families of martyrs and the wounded as a top priority within the limited resources available. However, those who had the opportunity to have free of charge education, an opportunity to train and have technical education and enjoy healthy mind and life but does not work or produce, he/she does not have the right to complain and ask the State for privileges, pointing out that " the society should not allow the "dependents" to take the share of the working people and those who exert efforts and who are really in need to aids. He inquired that did the Government have better options but did not implement? Mr. kahef confirmed that the Government should not be satisfied with the raise of prices and consider an increase of 4000 SP for a part of the population would solve the problem. The Government must exert effort to convey the "support to those who deserve it" because we will firmly oppose it if it did not properly serve those in need of all categories. At the end of his reply,

Mr. kahef said: "I will not allow those who want to found popularity on the basis of the State priorities during the war economy. We do not want those who exaggerate their nationalism and the love of the poor, to whom I belong and honestly work to convey their message and maintain their interests within the framework of the State interest. Each one of us must do their duty.

Mr. kahef reply to his critics faced many comments posted on his Facebook page, which varied between agreement and opposing to what he posted. Some others considered his talk very logical and objective and fit in the context, while others listened to half of what he said and did not comprehend that the State and the Government perform in a very challenging and difficult era. He added that it is high time that each must shoulder their responsibility be supportive, opponent or critic to the Government performance.