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Syria Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Syria
Official Name: Syrian Arab Republic
Capital: Damascus
Area: 185,180 square kilometres ( 71,498 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Damascus 2,052,000 (1995)
Aleppo 1,445,000 (1992 estimate)
Homs 518,000 (1992 estimate)
Latakia 284,000 (1992 estimate)
Hama 254,000 (1992 estimate)
Population: 14,661,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 3.4 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic under left-wing military government since March 1963
Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Constitution: 13 March 1973
Voting Rights: Universal at age 18
Government
Since the 1960s, when the ruling Ba'ath party (officially the Arab Socialist Renaissance party) came to power with an ideology of liberty, unity, and socialism, few other political elements have been able to gain much influence. Other political parties exist, but Ba'ath dominates all forms of political life. The president and the cabinet exercise executive authority, and there is a unicameral legislature. The voting age is 18. Laws are generally based on Shariah Islamic law. Some Syrians believe the country should become an Islamic republic (as opposed to a secular state), but others want a less rigid political environment that tolerates at least some degree of dissent.
Recent History
After World War I, Syria became a French mandate, but an independence movement emerged in the late 1920s. In 1941 the French government declared Syria's independence, although the country did not gain full sovereignty until 1946. Economic and political pressures on the new state led to years of unrest, marked by successive military coups. In 1970 the defence minister, General Hafez al-Assad, took power and was elected president in 1971 with 99.2 per cent of the vote.
In the post war period Syria has been a major opponent of Israel. The two countries have fought in three wars (in 1948, 1967, and 1973). After open war between the two nations ended, tensions remained over their respective military involvement in Lebanon and Israel’s virtual annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights.
After agreements were reached in 1994 between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Jordan, there were hopes that a peace agreement would be reached between Israel and Syria. However, the election of Binyamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel’s right-wing Likud Party, as prime minister in May 1996 reduced the prospects of a settlement, since Netanyahu was considered less likely than his predecessors to make territorial compromises for peace. Peace talks continued to stall and Syria refused to resume them unless Israel first withdrew from the Golan Heights.
Syria’s implication in the 1986 attempt to blow up an Israeli airliner in London led the United Kingdom to cut diplomatic links, while the United States and the European Community, now the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions. Syria’s relations with the West have improved since then. In 1986 it expelled Abu Nidal, a renowned terrorist, and claimed that it did not sponsor international terrorism. It also emerged as a regional arbiter in securing the release of Western hostages held in Lebanon and as a mediator between Iran and the other Persian Gulf states, which helped bring about the Iran-Iraq ceasefire in 1988. Cooperation with the allied forces during the Persian Gulf War following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait has further rehabilitated Syria in the eyes of the West.
This accommodation with the West has been at the behest of President Assad, who has almost total control of the government. Martial law has been in force since 1963, and in 1982 the government ruthlessly crushed a rebellion by Muslim fundamentalists. Open political dissent is not tolerated. In the 1991 presidential elections, Assad was unopposed and won 99 percent of all votes cast, securing his fourth seven-year term.
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