Syria passes law to allow rival parties

Draft legislation permits opposition groups to Ba’ath party for the first time in decades, but move met with scepticism by activists Syria’s cabinet has backed a draft law to allow rival political parties to the ruling Ba’ath party of president Bashar al-Assad for the first time in decades, but the move has been largely dismissed by opposition groups as an empty gesture. The draft law, which must be ratified by parliament, permits parties that commit to “principles of democracy” but prohibits those affiliated to organisations outside Syria and those based on religion, tribe, denomination or profession, the state media agency Sana reported. If implemented fully, it could end decades of monopoly by the Ba’ath party, which banned opposition groups in the country after coming to power in a military coup in 1963. In 1972 Assad’s father and former president Hafez allowed parties willing to form a coalition with the Ba’ath party under the National Progressive Front, for which 167 of 250 seats in the parliament are reserved, but the other parties are mainly window-dressing for Ba’athist rule. Syrian officials have increasingly spoken of a transition to democracy, showing how far protesters have pushed regime discourse in more than four months of protests. But the move was met with widespread scepticism by activists and opposition figures, inside and outside the country who say words have not been followed by actions. “Bashar al-Assad has made tremendous concessions – he lifted the state of emergency which was the top demand of the Syrian opposition of the last 40 years, but the security killed people the next day,” said Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian dissident and rights activist exiled in the US. “These decisions are documents only. There is no guarantee any party will be licensed just in the way no protest has been under the new law for demonstrations.” Under the new law the government retains control over the formation of parties, which must apply for a licence to operate. New parties must also respect the constitution, which enshrines the dominance of the Ba’ath party as the “leading party in state and society” despite Assad’s promises to look at altering it. The criteria would also continue to outlaw Kurdish parties, which operate in the north-east as the most organised of Syria’s political opposition. Opposition figures have emphasised that there can be no dialogue or trust in the regime’s reform programme until the security crackdown stops. Human rights groups say more than 1,500 civilians have been killed and more than 12,000 detained since the uprising started in mid-March. Activists reported ongoing detentions across the country as well as a continued clampdown in the neighbourhood of Bab Sbaa in Homs. Protests have intensified in the week before Ramadan when analysts and diplomats say they expect demonstrations to grow in frequency and size. A sit-in by 200 lawyers at the Justice Palace in Damascus on Monday turned into a brawl after pro-regime lawyers arrived, the local co-ordinating committees reported, hours after security forces carried out raids in the Damascus suburb of Hajr al-Aswad. The suburb is home to many Palestinians and Syrians from the Golan heights displaced after it was captured by Israel in 1967 and illegally annexed in 1981. Nour Ali is a pseudonym for a journalist in Damascus Syria Middle East Protest Arab and Middle East unrest guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 25, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.