National Progressive Front (Syria)

National Progressive Front
الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية
PresidentBashar al-Assad
Vice-PresidentMohammad al-Shaar[1]
FounderHafez al-Assad
Founded1972; 52 years ago (1972)
HeadquartersDamascus
IdeologyPro-Syrian government
Arab nationalism
Arab socialism
Pan-Arabism
Secularism
Anti-Zionism
Factions:
Political positionFactions:
Left-wing to far-left
People's Assembly
185 / 250
Council of Ministers
5 / 30
Website
pnf.org.sy

The National Progressive Front (Arabic: الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية, al-Jabha al-Waṭaniyyah al-Taqaddumiyyah, NPF) is a pro-government coalition of left-wing parties in Syria that supports the Arab nationalist and Arab socialist orientation of the government and accepts the "leading role" of the ruling Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. The coalition was formed on the basis of the Popular Front model of the Socialist Bloc, through which Syrian Ba'ath party governs the country by permitting nominal participation of smaller, satellite parties. The NPF is part of Ba'ath Party's efforts to expand its support base and neutralize prospects for any sustainable liberal or left-wing opposition, by instigating splits within independent leftist parties or repressing them.[a]

NPF model has been instrumentalized by the Ba'athist system to enforce a highly centralized Presidential system.[7] The satellite parties within the NPF have smaller political power and largely function as networks for mobilizing loyalty to the government. Student activism and political activities in armed forces are strictly prohibited for non-Ba'athist parties in the NPF, amongst other restrictions.[8][9]

  1. ^ "الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية". pnf.org.sy. Mohannad Orfali-.
  2. ^ "Is Syria socialist? 2022 Guide". Young Pioneer Tours. 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
  3. ^ Al Hajj-Saleh, Yassîn (1 October 2018). "L'opposition syrienne". Confluences Méditerranée: 71–81. doi:10.3917/come.044.0071. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023.
  4. ^ Seale, Patrick (1989). "19: The Enemy Within". Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. Los Angeles, USA: University of California Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 0-520-06667-7.
  5. ^ Taha, Zakaria (2012). The Kurdish opposition and the Baath regime in Syria: between identity dynamics and cooptation strategies. HAL SHS. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023.
  6. ^ Batatu, Hanna (1999). Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Princeton University Press. pp. 121, 274, 275. ISBN 0-691-00254-1.
  7. ^ Leverett, Flynt (2005). "Chapter Two: Hafiz's Legacy, Bashar's Inheritance". Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036: Brookings Institution Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-8157-5204-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. ^ Batatu, Hanna (1999). "13: The Post-1970 Asad-molded, Career-oriented Ba'ath". Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Princeton University Press. p. 187. ISBN 0-691-00254-1.
  9. ^ Seale, Patrick (1989). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. Los Angeles, USA: University of California Press. p. 176. ISBN 0-520-06667-7.


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