Syria - Government



After independence, Syria made several attempts at establishing a constitution. The constitution of 1950 was revived in amended form in 1962 and then abrogated. A provisional constitution adopted in April 1964 was suspended in 1966 and replaced to some extent by a continuing series of edicts. The fundamental law that thus emerged considered Syria a socialist republic forming part of the Arab homeland, required that the head of state be a Muslim, recognized Islamic law as a main source of legislation, ordained collective ownership of the means of production, but permitted some private ownership.

The constitution of 12 March 1973, embodying these principles and ratified by popular referendum, vests strong executive power in the president, who is nominated by the Ba'ath Party and elected by popular vote to a seven-year term. The president, who appoints the cabinet (headed by a prime minister), also serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and as secretary-general of the Ba'ath Party; three vice presidents were named in March 1984, including President Assad's younger brother Rifaat, who was dismissed from this post in 1998. There were two vice presidents in 2003. The unicameral people's assembly (Majlis al-shaab) has 250 members who are elected every four years, but who have no real power. Suffrage is universal, beginning at age 18. Syria has been under a state of emergency since 1963 (except for 1973-74). Although Bashar Assad announced in January 2001 that the emergency law was "frozen" and "not applied," the state of emergency was still in force as of February 2003.

Bashar Assad began a seven-year term as president in July 2000 following his father's death in June.

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: