Chapter 8, Part 2: Sheikh Taj, the 1943 Elections and al-Kikhya's Return to Parliament

One example: the French flag was lowered in Suwayda and the English flag raised in its place. At once a military force was sent to Suwayda, despite the threats of the British military commander, and seized the "French House" there. The English withdrew. De Gaulle learned from these lessons "that the greatness and strength of France lie only in its firmness where its rights are concerned. And we shall go on needing this firmness until we reach the Rhine."[1]

In the face of this strong stand, "things began to improve".

General Catroux appointed General Collet as his delegate to the government of Syria, Monsieur Fauquenot as his delegate in Aleppo, and General Olivat-Roger as his delegate in Jabal Druze.

De Gaulle believed, or so he imagined, that the Syrian people "was expressing its feelings for him in its rousing welcome because it saw in the Free French forces a body of courage and chivalry", and that the presence of the French alongside it kept the German danger away from it, safeguarded its economic future and put an end to the abuses of the feudal landlords.[2]

It had greeted "our proclamation of its independence with great enthusiasm, and demonstrations of support took place in Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia..".

But the Syrian politicians remained reserved toward de Gaulle, as he says, so he decided to take the next step and set up a government in Syria and another in Lebanon, entrusting them with responsibility for finance, the economy and public order, "because we wanted to keep only the tasks of defense, foreign relations and the common interests of Syria and Lebanon". By way of reminder, the common interests meant:

The currency, customs and provisioning (supplies), ravitaillement, until circumstances allowed general elections to be held, from which legitimate national authorities would emerge.

The French High Commissioner had "dismissed President Hashim al-Atassi in 1939, removed the government of Jamil Mardam, and dissolved the Chamber of Deputies under the presidency of Faris al-Khouri".

De Gaulle spoke with each of these leaders in the presence of General Catroux, and they showed a desire to cooperate with him. "But I found that they, known as they are for their patriotism, cling to an unbending patriotism and to rigid legal formalities".

Even so, "I asked Catroux to keep up contact with them".

As it happened, Britain appointed General Spears as its minister plenipotentiary in Syria and Lebanon. Khalid al-Azm was at the head of the government, running the affairs of the administration. The task his government set for Spears was to carry out Britain's guarantees concerning Syria and Lebanon.

Spears held powerful means of pressure in his hand: the presence of the British army and a wide intelligence network, control over the economic relations of Syria and Lebanon, the capacity for extensive propaganda, the loyalty of the two neighboring Arab states, Jordan and Iraq, where two Hashemite thrones stood, and heavy pressure exerted by the British High Commissioner in Palestine, on the grounds that the people of Palestine were very anxious about the French repression their Syrian and Lebanese brothers were suffering.. "As for Egypt, it too stood on the side of the English in their pressure on us, because no minister could stay in office or come into the ministry unless he had the approval of the English".

English intrigue exploited these circumstances to the utmost.

The nationalists found, contrary to de Gaulle's claims, that this French general, who had broken away from his state on the pretext of defending the sanctity of the motherland, was no different from the other men of colonialism. They were also convinced that the independence he had in mind for Syria was a mere name with no reality behind it, and so they refused to cooperate with him.

The French looked for a puppet to cover their games, and found what they were looking for in "Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hasani". General Catroux issued a decree appointing him President of the Syrian Republic on 12 September 1941. He accepted the appointment gratefully, declaring his loyalty to his benefactor.. and shut his eyes to the hatred and loathing the people showed him.

Sheikh Taj appointed Hasan al-Hakim Prime Minister, and he too accepted the appointment. He chose eight ministers for his cabinet, among them Zaki al-Khatib, Bahij al-Khatib, Munir al-Abbas, Faydi al-Atassi, Hikmat al-Haraki, Abd al-Ghaffar al-Atrash and Fayez al-Khouri.

A question comes to mind: why did Hasan al-Hakim agree to form a government whose supreme head was Sheikh Taj, when the trusted national leaders had refused to cooperate with the French authority because of a disagreement over national principles?

For the sake of objectivity, and for the record, I quote what al-Hakim wrote in defense of his acceptance of this task. He said:[3]

"It was impossible to hold general elections at that time because of the war.. Fifty deputies had submitted a petition praising Sheikh Taj's competence and his outstanding talents.[4]

Faris al-Khouri, Lutfi al-Haffar and Husni al-Barazi had cooperated with Damad Ahmad Nami Bey, who had likewise been installed as head of state and of the government by the High Commissioner.

And Jamil Mardam Bey and Mazhar Raslan cooperated with Haqqi al-Azm, who had been installed as Prime Minister by the High Commissioner in the same way.

Does this cooperation mean that these patriotic gentlemen abandoned their patriotism and the service of their country and handed the keys of the citadel to the usurping colonizer?

Patriotism is not haughtiness and arrogance and always taking a negative stand whose consequences are not praiseworthy. Politics is attack and retreat, give and take, and maneuvering to bring some benefit or ward off some harm..".

In his self-defense he praised Sheikh Taj, saying that he was a reformer, and that if he had made mistakes, every human being makes mistakes.

Even so, this government was viewed very badly.. and al-Hakim's insistence on defending it with arguments that do not stand up to criticism will not make that view any less bad.

General Catroux issued a statement dated 27 September 1941 containing the "proclamation of the independence of Syria", which he read out at an official ceremony held at the Government House in Damascus.

It said:

"On 8 June the Allied armies entered the Levant (Syria and Lebanon), and I broadcast to them, in the name of Free France and its leader de Gaulle, a statement in which I recognized Syria's status as an independent sovereign state, on condition that a treaty be concluded between us defining our mutual relations.

At the same time the British government, the ally of Free France, broadcast a statement in agreement with it, in which it joined in this momentous political act.

The Syrian state will enjoy the rights and privileges enjoyed by independent sovereign states.

These rights and privileges are subject only to the restrictions imposed by the present state of war, the security of the country and the safety of the allied armies.

Since Syria has entered international life, the rights and obligations contracted in its name will naturally pass to it.

It has the right to appoint political representatives.

It has the right to form its own national military forces.

And it forms, politically and geographically, an indivisible unit."

The same High Commissioner issued a decree dated 12 January 1942 (no. 23 F.L.) publishing the statute of the "Alawite Mountain Governorate", which "is an integral part of the State of Syria", as the first article put it. He also issued another decree making the Jabal Druze Governorate an integral part of the State of Syria too, on the same date and under number 22, "after exhausting negotiations" conducted by the Prime Minister, Hasan al-Hakim, as he says of himself.

This cabinet resigned on 17 April 1942. Al-Hakim says "that he submitted his cabinet's resignation on 4 March 1942, but the President of the Republic issued a decree, no. 393, that considered it "dissolved on the grounds of the ministers' resignation".

A new government was formed under Husni al-Barazi on 18 April 1942, and its term ended on 8 January 1943. Its period in power was, as the historians of this period say, a battle of continual disagreement between the President of the Republic (French in orientation) and the Prime Minister (English in leaning).[5]

This government was replaced by a new government under Jamil al-Ulshi on 8 January 1943.

A week after it was formed, the President of the Republic, Sheikh Taj, died on 17 January 1943, and so the Council of Ministers, under Legislative Decree no. 2, took on the duties of the executive authority in an acting capacity and began to exercise the powers of the President of the Republic.

As'ad al-Kourani joined this cabinet as Minister of Justice on 23 January 1943. He was a lawyer and head of the Aleppo Bar Association, renowned for his mastery of the law and his independence in public life, and known for his good reputation.

During this period the English General Spears was in constant contact with the Syrian national leaders of every tendency. It is said that he urged them to demand the country's basic rights, especially its complete independence, and promised them that Britain would help them to achieve it.

France felt that matters were slipping out of its hands, so it hurried to improve its dismal image in the eyes of the Syrians. General Catroux issued three fundamental decrees dated 25 March 1943, providing for the following:

First: the restoration of constitutional life to the country and the revival of the 1930 constitution.

Second: the organization of the legislative and executive powers.

Third: charging Ata al-Ayyubi with exercising the powers of head of state and of Prime Minister.

Following these decrees, the High Commissioner formed a Syrian cabinet under Ata al-Ayyubi. The first thing it did, under French direction, was to call general elections.

The political bodies were allowed to carry on their electoral activity and the usual propaganda of election campaigns.

The National Bloc came back onto the scene.

Its leaders agreed that Hashim al-Atassi would not stand for the presidency of the Republic and would remain leader of the country unofficially, and they also agreed to nominate Shukri al-Quwatli for the presidency.

To prepare the ground for the success of the new policy, Shukri al-Quwatli traveled to Aleppo. There he got in touch with the prominent figures in order to arrive at a single list for fighting the electoral battle.. The coalition of the powerful families in Aleppo was ready.. but Rushdi and Nazim had to be brought into it, to complete the string and bring everyone together.. And once this family merger was made, the people would applaud it and go to the ballot box cheering and shouting God is great.

Al-Quwatli met al-Kikhya to persuade him to accept and to return to the fold of the National Bloc. But the meeting produced no satisfactory result.. Al-Kikhya issued a press statement on 18 May 1943, which said:

"My talks with Mr. Shukri al-Quwatli were confined solely to dealing with the local disputes arising from the present circumstances, out of concern for the good of the country. We did not agree on returning to the National Bloc or joining any other political body.

As for the electoral question, we cannot give an opinion on it before we decide whether to take part."[6]

Rushdi al-Kikhya and Nazim al-Qudsi refused to join either of the two lists of the Bloc's men, and decided to enter the electoral battle on a list they would form independently of any other grouping.

When the electoral picture in Aleppo took shape, three lists emerged in the city:

A list headed by Saadallah al-Jabiri, whose members included the industrialist Wahbi al-Hariri.

A list headed by Abd al-Rahman al-Kayyali.

And the list of Rushdi al-Kikhya and Nazim al-Qudsi.

The spinning and weaving company run by the al-Mudarris family, and the second company, owned by Wahbi al-Hariri, played an important part in steering the elections through the large financial support they gave.

The two companies vied with each other in handing out money to buy the consciences of some of the secondary electors in a very ugly way, which left a bad impression on the people of Aleppo, because people had not known these illegitimate methods before.

On the list of al-Kikhya and al-Qudsi was the university professor Sheikh Mustafa al-Zarqa, a well-known professor of Islamic jurisprudence, inclined toward the strict school of interpretation.. but his political standing did not match his standing in jurisprudence. The lawyer Ahmad Munir al-Wafa'i was also on it.

The elections were held in two stages, as the constitution laid down: on 10 July 1943 for the first-stage electors and on 26 July for the second-stage electors.. They ended with the success of al-Kikhya and al-Qudsi in an arena of merciless struggle.. And with that Rushdi al-Kikhya proved that he had set his feet on solid ground on the road to leadership.

The National Bloc's lists won in most regions of Syria.

The Chamber of Deputies met in an extraordinary session and elected Faris al-Khouri as its president, almost unanimously, at the session of 17 August 1943. At the same session it elected Shukri al-Quwatli President of the Republic by the unanimous votes of the deputies, who numbered 118. Rushdi al-Kikhya and Nazim al-Qudsi voted for him too.

The President of the Republic entrusted Saadallah al-Jabiri with forming the cabinet, and he formed it on 19 August, with Jamil Mardam as Minister of Foreign Affairs, a post of particular importance.[7]

Al-Kikhya took upon himself the responsibility of opposing the new government, in keeping with long-established democratic custom. To that end he began to get in touch with some of the young deputies, such as Ahmad al-Sharabati and Sabri al-Asali, who had won in Damascus on al-Quwatli's list, and Akram al-Hourani and Raif al-Mulqi, who had also begun to follow a course independent of the National Bloc. Akram al-Hourani had a socialist program backed in Hama by a group of educated young men.. and he had won on that basis despite the resistance of the reactionary local leadership.[8]

But it soon became clear to al-Kikhya that some of these deputies with whom he had hoped to cooperate were eyeing a ministerial chair to sit on. That is what happened with al-Asali and al-Sharabati.. they won ministerial office and were absorbed into the machinery of the state.. Others were attached to a local political creed that dominated all their political thinking. In this uncertain atmosphere al-Kikhya decided to study the general situation in depth, so that he would not lose his footing.

This patience and calm reflection stayed with him all his life.

Endnotes:

[1] Ibid., p. 219. This is how de Gaulle talks. But the facts say that his forces counted for nothing in the theater of military operations.

[2] Ibid., p. 230.

[3] Mudhakkirati (My Memoirs), vol. 2, p. 10, under the heading "Why I cooperated with His Excellency Mr. Taj al-Hasani".

[4] See their names in "Mudhakkirat Hasan al-Hakim (The Memoirs of Hasan al-Hakim), vol. 2, p. 43. All of them were deputies from the countryside. The only one of the city deputies who went along with him was Fayez al-Khouri.. who was brought into the cabinet".

[5] Yusuf al-Hakim, Suriya wa-l-Intidab al-Faransi (Syria and the French Mandate), vol. 4, p. 324.

[6] Quoted from Nasuh Babil, in his memoirs Sahafa wa-Siyasa (Journalism and Politics), p. 170.

[7] Salma, the daughter of Jamil Mardam Bey, published a book in London in May 1994 on the years of Syrian independence, 1939-1945. It was translated into Arabic under the title "Istiqlal Suriya, Awraq Jamil Mardam Bey" (The Independence of Syria: The Papers of Jamil Mardam Bey).

[8] Akram al-Hourani began his political life by joining the Syrian National Party founded by Antun Saadeh. This party adopted the concept of "the Syrian nation", which is rejected by those who call for Arab nationalism.
After a while he broke away from it (it is said he was expelled by a party decision) and turned to a sound Arab nationalist course. God took him at the end of 1996 in Amman (Jordan).