Pressespiegel Januar 2010 1. Leiter der Staatlichen Planungsbehör­de vom Dienst suspendiert Am 10. Januar enthob der syrische Präsident Bashar al ‐ Assad den Leiter der Staatlichen Planungskommission Tayseer al ‐ Riddawi seines Amtes. An seiner Stelle ernannte Ministerpräsident Naji al ‐ Otri vorläufig den stellvertreten ‐ den Ministerpräsidenten für wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten Abdallah al ‐ Dardari, welcher diesen Posten bereits vor al ‐ Riddawi innegehabt hatte(al ‐ Baath / al ‐ Thawra/ al ‐ Watan 11.01.2010). Während die staatliche Presse keine Gründe nannte, wurde in informellen Medien und privaten Gesprä ‐ chen viel über die Hintergründe spekuliert, die zur Abset ‐ zung al ‐ Riddawis geführt haben mögen. Has President Assad Stepped Up Economic Reform? “By and large, President Assad allowed his economic team to publicly argue over mostly tactical matters even if they agreed on the more strategic path towards reform. The president did not seem to favor a certain camp over another. This was the case until yesterday when President Assad removed Tayseer al ‐ Reddawi as head of the State Planning Commission(SPC), an office he has held since 2007.(…) Reddawi was an outspoken critic of Deputy Premier Dardari and the economic policies he put into place as head of the SPC. Dardari was the architect of the last 5 ‐ year economic plan. While Mr. al ‐ Reddawi has launched a series of semi ‐ nars on the economy lately, his attacks on Mr. Dardari were made public in October of 2009.(…) Because of Reddawi’s criticism of free markets and the wealth that has accrued in the hands of a few, some analysts have concluded that his dismissal comes as retribution from Syria’s well connected business elite and serves as a blow to the economic reform process as a whole.(…) While one cannot dismiss the probability that Mr. al ‐ Reddawi was punished for his attack on the business elite, it seems more probable that the Presi ‐ dent has finally decided to weigh in on policy disputes that have hobbled the reform process. By throwing his weight behind Mr. Dardari and his allies who espouse greater free trade and less government intervention, President Assad is setting the direction of macroeco ‐ nomic policy and ensuring that the new 5 ‐ year plan will reflect the direction that Dardari set out on years ago, when he began pruning subsidies, reforming tax and business laws, and moving toward a social market economy.” Ehsani, Syria Comment 12.01.2010 (www.joshualandis.com) On Dardari/Raddawi again Raddawi’s firing was a personal response from PM Otri for what he considered a direct personal attack by Raddawi. It was Raddawi’s critical public lecture of the 10th 5 ‐ year plan, delivered 4 days after the PM pre ‐ sented a positive report on the outcome of the plan to the Parliament that caused his dismissal. PM Otri took it personally, it seems. It is not the first time Raddawi criticized the plan, but he is deliberately attacked the Prime Minister. The dispute did not reach the level of the President and he does not seem to have had a di ‐ rect hand in the removal of Raddawi. ʺ Idaf, all4syria 27.01.2010(www.all4syria.net)