The Role of Local Administration in Syrian Stability During Recovery
The Nation Building Movement held a dialogue session at its headquarters in Damascus on Saturday, September 7, under the title: "The Role of Local Administration in Syrian Stability During Recovery."
The session was moderated by: Dr. Ayham Assad, faculty member at the National Institute of Public Administration; Dr. Jumaa Hijazi, Dean of the Higher Institute for Population Studies and Research; Dr. Aqil Mahfouz, Doctor of Political Science; Dr. Karim Abu Halawa, Doctor of Political Sociology; and the session facilitator, lawyer Anas Joudeh, head of the Nation Building Movement, in addition to a number of secretaries-general of governorates, heads of governorate councils, members of governorate councils, journalists, experts, political figures, activists, and those interested in community and civil affairs.
During the session, the outcomes of the work carried out in the past two years were discussed, including focused discussion sessions with a select group of researchers and experts, local workshops, and in-depth studies on the legislative and historical structure of local administration, national development plans, and the center’s diverse relations with the parties since the beginning of the establishment of the Syrian state.
The session also discussed the need to propose a national project to reunite the country and identify the roots of development imbalances, and to search for a balanced relationship between the center and the sides that redistributes resources and powers, and constitutes an entry point for recovery in a way that ensures that there are no setbacks that would restore the state of war, in addition to coordination in development planning between the local, regional and national levels, so that coordination extends to local agencies, followed by a balanced distribution of powers and competencies and the completion of the transfer of powers to localities.
The session addressed the need to develop the poorest localities in a manner consistent with the national framework for regional planning, taking into account the gradual transition towards decentralization, while reading the difference in human and material resources between localities and their development context when granting powers and responsibilities.
It also discussed the administrative structure and financial powers necessary to enhance development independence in recovery, with what is required in terms of databases and development indicators that local structures (observatories - houses of expertise) can provide in order to build sound development plans.
It also discussed the administrative structure and financial powers necessary to enhance development independence in recovery, with what is required in terms of databases and development indicators that local structures (observatories - houses of expertise) can provide in order to build sound development plans.
The session called for strengthening economic value chains, private sector participation, and activating its partnership with the local community and local actors to finance small projects therein, which requires localizing administrative procedures in localities completely and liberating them from central procedures.
Regarding the relationship between the localities and the center, Dr. Karim explained that it is a relationship of shared responsibility, whether in cases of success or failure, and the center must realize that the success of the localities supports it and is evidence of its effectiveness and vice versa. What appears to be a conflict of powers, in addition to the lack of knowledge, experience and ability to take initiative, adds to the various confusions in some localities, pointing out that development succeeds when everyone feels and is convinced that everything we do in society, the private sector and the government, whether positive or negative, will have tangible results.
Regarding the reason for the lack of levels of participation among large sectors of Syrian society, Dr. Karim explained that encouraging a culture of actual participation and discussing issues of public interest will necessarily make society feel its great energy and that it is able, through organization and division of labor, to solve its problems, because when the results of development do not reach the people, they will become unconcerned with them.
Regarding the reason for the lack of levels of participation among large sectors of Syrian society, Dr. Karim explained that encouraging a culture of actual participation and discussing issues of public interest will necessarily make society feel its great energy and that it is able, through organization and division of labor, to solve its problems, because when the results of development do not reach the people, they will become unconcerned with them.
Dr. Karim pointed out that trust is a result and not a reason for society’s evaluation of general practices and the extent to which it benefits from them or not, indicating that Syrians suffered during the war and its effects from the existence of deadly identities, not just exclusionary or subordinate ones, through the organizations responsible for issuing the life-or-death ruling, and encouraging it is dangerous. The problem is not in diversity, but in managing this diversity.
Regarding how to deal with diverse identities and regional political representation, Dr. Karim explained that a homogeneous society is a poor society, and we must preserve and enrich the diversity we have, provided that it does not carry within its separatist tendencies or arrogance towards others.
For his part, Dr. Jumaa Hijazi pointed out in his participation that the local administration in Syria has not succeeded throughout all the previous planning decades in adopting a participatory economic approach based on integration at the three levels of planning: overall, regional and local, stressing the lack of sufficient will to move to lower levels of overall or central planning.
Hijazi explained that the local administration was governed by a central system that took everything and then distributed it to the governorates and regions in the manner it saw fit, regardless of the capabilities available to each region or governorate (natural and unnatural), and thus some governorates, such as the eastern governorates, remained backward in economic and social terms, and this created polarization and a development gap between the governorates.
Hijazi explained that the local administration was governed by a central system that took everything and then distributed it to the governorates and regions in the manner it saw fit, regardless of the capabilities available to each region or governorate (natural and unnatural), and thus some governorates, such as the eastern governorates, remained backward in economic and social terms, and this created polarization and a development gap between the governorates.
Regarding the determinants of transferring powers to localities in the various governorates, Hijazi explained that the promotion of decentralization in previous decades took on an engineering, urban planning character, and population sociology, economics, administration, and many issues that must be taken into account were ignored, which led to the weakness of the planning and administrative capabilities of local councils, cities, and towns regarding development planning, identifying needs, and building plans and strategies at the local level.
Hijazi stressed that the development planning of councils, cities and towns remained governed by the general central structure of the Syrian economy, which means that the effectiveness of councils, cities and towns was weak and they were unable to formulate development policies and programmers, which confirms that one of the reasons for the lack of effectiveness of participation is the central structure and lack of trust in local authorities.
Regarding changing the philosophy of financial management, Dr. Ayham Assad pointed out that we need to reconsider the philosophy of managing public money in Syria, starting from the center and moving to the localities.
Stressing that the item budget that is being worked on in the Ministry of Finance is one of the oldest types of budgets, and after that more than one better budget appeared, such as the program and performance budget, up to the most recent of which is the contractual budget, through which public money is managed in a very advanced and modern way.
Regarding changing the philosophy of financial management, Dr. Ayham Assad pointed out that we need to reconsider the philosophy of managing public money in Syria, starting from the center and moving to the localities.
Stressing that the item budget that is being worked on in the Ministry of Finance is one of the oldest types of budgets, and after that more than one better budget appeared, such as the program and performance budget, up to the most recent of which is the contractual budget, through which public money is managed in a very advanced and modern way.
Assad explained that it has the ability to transfer the method of preparing the local budget from the item budget to the performance and programs budget, where spending is based on programs, forcing local governments to prepare development programs according to what the center has planned, so their budget is prepared based on plans, and here the development planning process is linked to the budget preparation process.
Assad pointed out that working on financial decentralization is not done according to one method only, as determining an independent contract system for localities - for example - exempts them from all bureaucratic procedures is part of financial decentralization that contributes to strengthening financial decentralization, leaving the freedom to contract by law alone, such as contracts for faculty members in Syrian universities, stressing that without financial liberalization and granting very strong financial powers to localities, local development planning cannot be accomplished, and that trust is only built through experience by granting some local samples from several regions their powers according to Law 107 and providing support to them, then measuring their experience and talking about trust at that time.
Assad pointed out that working on financial decentralization is not done according to one method only, as determining an independent contract system for localities - for example - exempts them from all bureaucratic procedures is part of financial decentralization that contributes to strengthening financial decentralization, leaving the freedom to contract by law alone, such as contracts for faculty members in Syrian universities, stressing that without financial liberalization and granting very strong financial powers to localities, local development planning cannot be accomplished, and that trust is only built through experience by granting some local samples from several regions their powers according to Law 107 and providing support to them, then measuring their experience and talking about trust at that time.
In his statement, Dr. Aqil Mahfouz pointed out that making the center and the sides two parties is a contradictory reading that generates problems. It is better to pay attention to the intersections within the horizon of a state and society to understand the differences and contradictions and balance these powers by establishing a balanced and fundamental center that does not tend to dominate. In return, the sides have powers and capabilities but do not tend to separate or distance themselves, and thus the balance of power is scattered or incoherent.
He pointed out the necessity and existence of a dynamic of correction and that there be a degree of caution and awareness of slippages and excesses in ideas, stressing that what is required today is for us to regain control of the idea of a state first, then the distribution of power and resources according to national consensus، Pointing out that the Syrian economy is primarily rentier, as the state is the one that spends on society and thus the state is the primary employer that employs and distributes resources.
He pointed out the necessity and existence of a dynamic of correction and that there be a degree of caution and awareness of slippages and excesses in ideas, stressing that what is required today is for us to regain control of the idea of a state first, then the distribution of power and resources according to national consensus، Pointing out that the Syrian economy is primarily rentier, as the state is the one that spends on society and thus the state is the primary employer that employs and distributes resources.
Regarding trust, Dr. Mahfouz explained that we do not have a history of trust, so society becomes unable to enter into developmental and economic partnerships and even unable to enter into political organizations that transcend the group and the region, explaining that any country with political life gives an indicator of the health, correction, restructuring and recycling of political elites and competition between political movements that promote the most capable and efficient people, stressing that political parties must work under the title of state and society.
About Challenges
Participants in the session, in turn, pointed out the most important challenges that limit the role of local administration, including the existence of large development gaps between regions and the lack of clear development plans at the national level, in addition to the gaps between executive powers and the role of councils, which led to a crisis of confidence and low levels of participation in party work - due to the lack of real representation - and local and community work and the electoral process, especially the laws related to this process.
Emphasizing the existence of challenges resulting from sub-identities and tribal affiliations, despite the importance of diversity, attempts to reorganize identity may lead to the creation of separatist tendencies and impact the social fabric, stressing the non-permission of sub-identities and warning against the trend towards sectarian policies that threaten national unity.
Participants in the session, in turn, pointed out the most important challenges that limit the role of local administration, including the existence of large development gaps between regions and the lack of clear development plans at the national level, in addition to the gaps between executive powers and the role of councils, which led to a crisis of confidence and low levels of participation in party work - due to the lack of real representation - and local and community work and the electoral process, especially the laws related to this process.
Emphasizing the existence of challenges resulting from sub-identities and tribal affiliations, despite the importance of diversity, attempts to reorganize identity may lead to the creation of separatist tendencies and impact the social fabric, stressing the non-permission of sub-identities and warning against the trend towards sectarian policies that threaten national unity.
Recommendations
At the end of the dialogue session, the participants came out with a number of recommendations, the most important of which was providing a framework for dialogue, emphasizing the importance of local communities’ participation in the development process, the necessity of reading the difference between the capabilities of localities and their development context, the impact of the central structure on local planning and effective participation, and the call for a balance between national identity and sub-identities.
• From a financial perspective, the participants stressed the need to change the philosophy of public money management in Syria, the need for a new financial framework for managing decentralization, the need to move to medium-term budgets, work with the latest models in public money management (contractual budgeting), improve the development planning mechanism and its connection to the budget preparation process, and finally liberalize the distribution of budgets based on population and other determinants.
At the end of the dialogue session, the participants came out with a number of recommendations, the most important of which was providing a framework for dialogue, emphasizing the importance of local communities’ participation in the development process, the necessity of reading the difference between the capabilities of localities and their development context, the impact of the central structure on local planning and effective participation, and the call for a balance between national identity and sub-identities.
• From a financial perspective, the participants stressed the need to change the philosophy of public money management in Syria, the need for a new financial framework for managing decentralization, the need to move to medium-term budgets, work with the latest models in public money management (contractual budgeting), improve the development planning mechanism and its connection to the budget preparation process, and finally liberalize the distribution of budgets based on population and other determinants.
• In the field of media, participants called for developing the media law to allow local councils greater space for expression and to submit proposals to improve legislation related to local media, and to develop local media to enhance awareness and community participation, stressing the need for transparency in publishing information related to budgets and balance sheets.
• Regarding decentralization, the participants called for clarifying the concept of decentralization so that the vision is shared among Syrians, due to the great desire to move to local planning after decades of centralization, pointing to the need to use technology to improve local planning and develop indicators to evaluate decentralization and its impact on development, as well as reorganizing relations between government entities with the distribution of powers and resources between the center and the sides, with the need for an actual experience - applying decentralization in certain areas - to build trust between the different parties, and the importance of having a political and partisan life to enhance trust and participation.
• On the electoral issue and the powers of local councils, the participants indicated that organizing fair elections requires guarantees to ensure that they are fair, establishing criteria for selecting members of local councils, clarifying the powers of local councils and their relationship to planning, stressing the need for local councils to be empowered and then held accountable, developing or amending Law 107 to support the establishment of projects at the local level, changing the view of the percentage of achievement and linking it to spending, and the existence of criteria such as the human capabilities of local councils.
In development planning, participants stressed that the lack of clear development plans at the national level, the sufficiency of current legislation on regional planning, and the absence of a vision led to an inability to build effective local administration and identify development gaps between regions, pointing to the problem of communication between different planning bodies, as planning requires a clear sequence between the different levels of local development, calling for focusing on good planning and applying effective decentralization, and distributing powers between ministries and local authorities and coordinating between them.
• Regarding social roles and participation, participants called for finding practical solutions to enhance effective community participation in decision-making, and to identify the roles that different groups in society, such as women and youth should play, while emphasizing the importance of the role of civil society in promoting rights and participation, enhancing transparency, and making information available to people.