Youth faction breaks away from Syrian 'internal opposition' group

Against the backdrop of an agreement between Syria's main external and domestic opposition groups, several leading youth leaders in the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change have resigned.

MENA

2 min read

Rayan Mohammed

13 March, 2015

Syria's opposition has been wracked by in-fighting [AFP]

Dozens of members of the Damascus-based opposition group, the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCC), have resigned from the movement.

Those who left were mostly young and included a number of the movement's well-known youth leaders.

They handed over their resignations to the general coordinator or the NCC, Hassan Abdel Azim, late on Thursday.

The move came after organisational and political differences between the youth and independent factions and the main leadership.

"Disputes within the executive bureau had intensified in recent months," said Maram Daoud, secretary of the NCC's youth office.

She said 35 youth members resigned from the movement en masse, with more independent members expected to resign in the coming weeks.

Among those who left are Majid Habboo of the executive bureau, and the Damascus and the diaspora division leaders, Battar al Shara and Sada Hamza.

"Political party representatives in the bureau attempted to gain full influence over the decision-making process in the committee, using crooked methods," Daoud claimed.

"Some members of these political parties would join the bureau as independents, where in fact, they were boosting the representation of their own parties within the leading body of the committee."

She also alleges that leaders of the constituent parties sought to obstruct NCC youth activities and initiatives, and attempted to alienate them from the political process.

The recent flare-up came after a meeting between the main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and the NCC in Paris. The two groups agreed to a roadmap for a transitional government in Syria.

Objections from the youth elements about certain decisions made in the talks were ignored, she said.

"The independent youth have decided to increase their meetings during the coming period to determine their next steps. One of the future options is to form a new political entity."

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.