Presidential candidate Fadhil Al-Amin affirmed that committees, no matter how long they last, do not build a state. Rather, states are built by institutions—even if they are stumbling and weak in their beginnings—calling for an end to the cycle of “a new dialogue committee every time a dispute becomes intractable.” This came in a post on his Facebook page titled: (The State of Committees or the State of Institutions!).
Critique of the Committee Path
Al-Amin explained that the repeated talk since 2014 about forming dialogue committees to address the division has not ended the crisis, considering the insistence on the same mechanisms while expecting different results “a form of stupidity or failure.” He clarified that political dialogue, by its nature, is a one-time tool that produces a reference agreement to be implemented through state institutions, not a gateway to “endless versions” of agreements.
The Reference of Agreements and Institutions
He stressed making the dialogue process a reference document to be consulted whenever a problem arises—similar to the Skhirat Agreement, which is included in the Constitutional Declaration—instead of discarding constitutional references every time a crisis emerges. He considered the constant call for a “new dialogue” with every dispute a game to escape commitments and change the rules of the game according to personal whims.
The Outcome and the Alternative
Al-Amin believes that the “committee game” has become an arena for new players to enter and old faces to return, and a channel for evasion, personal gain, and trade-offs, as opposed to institutions that, while not perfect, provide the best framework for work and reform. He concluded that—short of an armed revolution or a bloody coup—there is no way out except to build on what currently exists and proceed to comprehensive and fair national elections with the participation of all. He argued that building institutions is a cumulative process, like the evolution of the automotive industry from the “Ford Model T” to “Lamborghini” and “Maybach.”