In a “message to the Baathists” distributed on Wednesday, marking the anniversary of the March 8, 1963 movement that brought the Arab Socialist Baath Party to power, Khaddam stated, “Your responsibility is significant in saving the country and in achieving change and building a democratic state.” He added, “I hope you realize that aligning yourselves with the people, participating in the change, and using your connections with forces that can contribute to overthrowing the regime, whether civil or military, will be recorded as a historic national act.”
Khaddam continued in his message to the Baathists, “I am well aware that most of you understand the gravity of the country’s situation and that the party is innocent of all that the regime does. Therefore, strive to be the vanguards of change to build a state of freedom, justice, and equality, a state of law and institutions.”
Khaddam emphasized that “this regime cannot be reformed because it has become the country’s major problem. It has weakened the country and has seen the resurgence of issues that Syrians had moved beyond since independence, such as sectarianism, tribalism, sectarian divisions, and nationalistic fanaticism in an environment of rising sectarian, religious, and ethnic tensions, like in Iraq and Lebanon. This makes change an essential national need to preserve national unity and civil peace.”
Khaddam defected in 2005 after criticizing Syrian foreign policy, particularly in Lebanon.