DAMASCUS // A flurry of presidential decrees has been issued in Syria this week, in an effort to mollify growing public demands for reform and head off expected protests.
In a country where decision-making has long been notoriously slow paced, with the authorities always insisting that time is on their side, officials now seem to have at least one eye on the clock, with Friday, the day of demonstrations, now a key weekly marker.
Since last Friday's protests, which spread to new areas in the country and saw security forces open fire on demonstrators in a Damascus suburb, at least seven formal orders have been issued by president Bashar al Assad that seem designed to placate anti-government activists or convince the silent majority that meaningful change is taking place.
On Sunday, a decree named former agriculture minister Adel Safar as the new prime minister, following the sacking of Naji Otri's government. Decrees were also issued to give retired state employees - the majority of the national workforce - health insurance benefits, while farmers in drought-ravaged eastern Syria were told they do not have to pay fines on unpaid irrigation fees.
Then, yesterday, Mohammad Khalid al Hanous was sworn in as the new governor for Deraa, replacing the reviled Faisal Kalthum. Deraa, 100 kilometres south of Damascus, has been an epicentre for anti-government protests since the first demonstrators there were shot and killed by security forces on March 18, sparking an unprecedented nationwide outbreak of public dissent. One of Deraa's demands had been for the former governor to be sacked.
Also yesterday, a presidential order established a privately funded Islamic university, the first of its kind in modern Syria. Analysts say that step was taken as a reward to the nation's Islamic clerical establishment, which has thus far firmly toed the government's line and used its influence to stop the Sunni Muslim majority from joining protesters.
While such minor steps fall far short of the sweeping reforms that demonstrators have been demanding, Syrian political analysts say the authorities are trying to bolster their support and, crucially, have had to react to a fast-moving agenda being set by the public.
One Syrian political analyst, speaking anonymously, said: "Surely the political leadership is always thinking about the coming Friday. There are now two mechanisms at work here, we have normal governmental procedures which take years to move, and we have the protests which have a weekly timeframe.
"It means that, for the first time in decades, the government is being forced to move to a new timetable that is being set by political activity in the street."
In addition to the presidential decrees, the more significant matter of ending a repressive state of emergency, in place since 1963, appears to have been speeded up this week, in response to last Friday's protests and in an effort to head of the next set of demonstrations.
Mr al Assad had previously tasked a committee to examine draconian martial laws and draw up replacement legislation, giving it a deadline of April 25, something that had angered protesters who want the state of emergency lifted immediately.
Then, on Monday, the privately owned Syrian newspaper al Watan, known for its close ties to Syria's ruling elite, quoted unnamed sources as saying the committee would finish its work before April 8 - this Friday - more than two weeks ahead of schedule, something unheard of in the world of Syrian politics.
"The committee would not have hurried its work in that way if last Friday had been quiet," said another Syrian political analyst, also speaking anonymously because of the heightened state of security in the country.
"We have a saying 'if you want to forget something, set up a committee', so it would have taken months, perhaps years to complete its work if the protests had stopped straight away, " the analyst said. "But, because the public demands are still there and the people are still in the street, they [the authorities] had to move."
Similarly, the ruling elite are keen to stress that a commission set up to investigate the shootings of protesters in Deraa and the port city of Latakia, is making progress in its inquiry. Monday's edition of al Watan said the probe had already questioned "many witnesses" and "will soon end its work".
In addition, another seven human-rights activists, arrested during a protest outside of the interior ministry on March 16, were freed yesterday. The government has said it will release peaceful campaigners who have been imprisoned during recent unrest. Crucially however Kamal Sheiko, who was at the March 16 demonstration, was not freed, while hundreds of others remain in custody.
Protesters have called this week for a new wave of demonstrations, saying that government action so far has been woefully inadequate. On top of ending the state of emergency, activists have said all political prisoners must be freed - there are thought to be more than 3,000 in the country's jails - and that new laws must be passed to would permit opposition parties and usher in democracy.
There have also been loud demands for action to be taken to end the rampant corruption that has enriched the ruling elite but left the majority of Syrians struggling against a rising tide of poverty.
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
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Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
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- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
- Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
- Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
- Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
- Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
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Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
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• Teri Leiker, 51
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
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Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.