Politics of Syria

Politics of Syria

سياسة سوريا
Polity typeUnitary dominant-party presidential republic
ConstitutionConstitution of Syria
Legislative branch
NamePeople's Council
TypeUnicameral
Meeting placeParliament Building
Presiding officerHammouda Sabbagh, Speaker of the People's Council
Executive branch
Head of state
TitlePresident
CurrentlyBashar al-Assad
AppointerDirect popular vote
Head of government
TitlePrime Minister
CurrentlyMohammad Ghazi al-Jalali
AppointerPresident
Cabinet
NameCouncil of Ministers
Current cabinetMohammad Ghazi al-Jalali government
LeaderPrime Minister
Deputy leaderDeputy Prime Minister
AppointerPresident
Ministries28
Judicial branch
NameJudiciary of Syria
Supreme Constitutional Court
Chief judgeMohammad Jihad al-Laham

Politics in the Syrian Arab Republic takes place in the framework of a presidential republic[1][2] with nominal multi-party representation in People's Council under the Ba'athist-dominated National Progressive Front. In practice, Syria is a one-party state where independent parties are outlawed; with a powerful secret police that cracks down on dissidents.[3][4] Since the 1963 seizure of power by its Military Committee, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party has governed Syria as a totalitarian police state.[a] After a period of intra-party strife, Hafez al-Assad gained control of the party following the 1970 coup d'état and his family has dominated the country's politics ever since.[5][6][7]

Until the early stages of the Syrian uprising, the president had broad and unchecked decree authority under a long-standing state of emergency. The end of this emergency was a key demand of the uprising. Superficial reforms in 2011 made presidential decrees subject to approval by the People's Council, the country's legislature, which is itself dominated to parties loyal to the president.[8] The Ba'ath Party is Syria's ruling party and the previous Syrian constitution of 1973 stated that "the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party leads society and the state."[9] At least 183 seats of the 250-member parliament are currently reserved for the National Progressive Front, a Ba'ath Party dominated coalition that consists of nine other satellite parties loyal to Ba'athist rule.[10][11] The rest of the seats are occupied by independents, who are nominated by the Ba'ath party.[12]

The Syrian Army and security services maintained a considerable presence in the neighbouring Lebanese Republic from 1975 until 24 April 2005.[13] The 50th edition of Freedom in the World, the annual report published by Freedom House since 1973, designates Syria as "Worst of the Worst" among the "Not Free" countries, listing Assad government as one of the two regimes to get the lowest possible score (1/100).[14][15]

  1. ^ "Syria: Government". CIA World Factbook. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Government type presidential republic
  2. ^ "Syrian Arab Republic: Constitution, 2012". refworld. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Freedom in the World 2023: Syria". Freedom House. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023.
  4. ^ Lucas, Scott (25 February 2021). "How Assad Regime Tightened Syria's One-Party Rule". EA Worldview. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021.
  5. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  6. ^ Syria 101: 4 attributes of Assad's authoritarian regime - Ariel Zirulnick
  7. ^ Karam, Zeina (12 November 2020). "In ruins, Syria marks 50 years of Assad family rule". AP News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020.
  8. ^ Syria's state of emergency, Al Jazeera, 17 April 2011.
  9. ^ Article 8 of the Constitution
  10. ^ "Syria". Freedom House. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Syria 2022 Human Rights Report" (PDF). United States Department of State. pp. 70, 71. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2023.
  12. ^ Manea, Elham (2011). The Arab State and Women's Rights: The Trap of Authoritarian Governance. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-415-61773-4.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Freedom in the World 2023: Syria". Freedom House. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023.
  15. ^ Freedom in the World: 2023 (PDF) (Report) (50th anniversary ed.). March 2023. p. 31 – via Freedom House.


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