Syria's Development Towards Democracy

by sam2511 (student)

University Degree Social studies

Nguyen

Victor Nguyen

3/12/2012

World History block D

Essay project

Syria’s Development Towards Democracy

Introduction:

Syria is located in Western Asia, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea & Lebanon in the West, Turkey at the North, Iraq at the East, and Israel at southwest. Its capital is Damascus, where many wars for Syrian independence took place in history. Syria’s main natural resource, also its driving force for economy, is petroleum. Its three religions are Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, where Islam is practiced by the majority.

Syria’s official government is currently a Parliamentary Republic, where the People’s Council is the Parliament, led by Mohammad Jihad al-Laham. There is also separation of powers (Monstequieu’s Enlightenment idea). The executive branch consists of the president (Balshar al-Assad), the vice-presidents, the Prime Minister, and the Ba’ath Party. The Legislative Branch is the People’s Council. Finally, the Judicial branch consists of the High Judicial Council (HJC) and the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC).

Similar to the English Parliament’s House of the Commons and House of the Lords, the People’s Council consist of two houses: the National Progressive Front (NPF) and the Popular Front for Change and Liberation (PFCL).

In reality, however, the government of Syria is a dictatorship, where Balshar al-Assad holds all political power (the Prime Minister, the Ba’ath Party, and the vice-presidents are all under Balshar’s control). Not only that, the Legislative branch’s NPF is dominated by members from the Ba’ath Party and the Judicial branch’s HJC is led by Balshar al-Assad, which is why Balshar hold so much political power. The PFCL and the SCC hold little political power. Recent uprisings and civil wars started by Syrian citizens gave the PFCL of the People’s Council more political power, but its political power is still weak.

Throughout its history, Syria started as a part of the Ottoman Empire. There are periods where Syria was ruled by foreign nations and dictators. Having experienced sufferance under these powers, Syria lost its patient and its sense of independence rose, causing revolution and independence. Syria’s first independence was after World War I, where Syria itself was free from the reign of Ottomans and became the Kingdom of Syria, a constitutional monarchy. However, France signed the Sykes-Picot agreement with Britain and occupied Syria. After series of revolutions and continuous pressure from the Syrian colonies, Syria gained its independence when France signed the treaty of independence. Syria then established a parliamentary republic. However, because of the Arab-Israeli war, emergency law was established, where series of military parties try to seize power from each other while the parliament remained weak and ineffective. This results series of military dictatorship, where the dictators applied taxation for their own benefits without improving the people’s life. This is similar to the Roman Empire because Rome changed from a republic to dictatorship in times of crisis. Again, the Syrian citizens struggled and finally re-established a parliamentary republic, which continues until today. Such determination for independence and democracy in Syria’s history above clearly demonstrated its movement and struggling towards a more democratic government.

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The struggle for democracy still continues in Syria today. In 1970, after Syria re-established a parliamentary republic, the Ba’ath Party of Syria is formed and its members dominated the National Progressive Front (NPF) of the Parliament (People’s Council) in 1971, which consisted more members than the Popular Front of Change and Liberation (PFCL). The Ba’ath Party then outvoted the PFCL and brought up Hafez al-Assad to be the president. Since Hafez al-Assad controlled the Ba’ath Party, he can freely abused its power and brought upon any changes he wants. Not only that, the emergency law due to the Arab-Israeli war is still on-going. With the help of the Ba’ath Party, the emergency law was kept because any attempts to end the emergency law was outvoted by the Ba’ath Party. This is similar to France’s Estates-General during Louis XVI’s regime, where the 1st and 2nd Privileged Estates always outvoted the 3rd Estate. In 2000, Hafez al-Assad died and his son, Balshar al-Assad, was brought to power by his father. Using power provided by the Ba’ath Party, Balshar committed various violations against human rights and the Enlightenment ideas. Through the following actions by Hafez and Balshar provided below, it is clear why the people wanted to rebel.

In 1973, The People’s Council, mainly influenced by the Ba’ath Party/Hafez al-Assad, drafted a new constitution that granted Hafez an almost absolute power. The constitution stated high-leveled important public officials/governmental positions will be given to the President’s fellow relatives or family members. Others who wanted to participate in the government and gain higher positions must first join the Ba’ath Party and be absolutely loyal to the Party and Hafez. Therefore, the citizens had no voice in the government, since they cannot disobey orders from the Party and Hafez, and they have no equal rights since they cannot hold high-leveled public officials. A democracy is a situation in which citizens can submit and vote on laws either by themselves or representatives. In this case, the majority of the laws are decided by Hafez through the Ba’ath Party’s power and citizens cannot make social contracts with each other to make laws/decisions that reflect the majority’s will.

Upon assuming power, Hafez al-Assad got rid of all adversaries/oppositions, mainly other political parties in the government, by either executing/imprisoning certain figures or expelling the parties. He also brutally crushed any citizen rebellions against his regime, mostly seen in the 1982 Hama Massacre, where Hafez sent troops to Damascus to eliminate a large group of rebels. This event killed about 1000 Syrian citizens, soldiers from the government included. This similar to France during Maximilien Robespierre’s reign, where the extreme Maximilien tried to get rid of all oppositions of the Revolution.

In October 6, 1972, Syria initiated the Yom Kippur war, with purpose to reclaim the Golan Heights from Israel. However, the war was unsuccessful and Israel still occupied Golan Heights. The war resulted debts which caused Hafez al-Assad to call for a meeting in the People’s Council. The Ba’ath Party then outvoted the PFCL and dumped all taxes on non-Muslim citizens, violating Voltaire’s idea of religious freedom. This is partly similar to England in 1215, when King John fought unsuccessful, costly war and then taxed the citizens (nobles specifically). It is also similar to France in Louis XVI’s reign when Louis accumulated debt due to participation in the American Revolution and forced it on the 3rd Estate.

For the rest of his life Hafez al-Assad continuously abused the Ba’ath Party’s power until his death on June 10, 2000. The last time Hafez used the Ba’ath Party was to amend the constitution and reduce the mandatory minimum age of the President from 40 to 34. This allowed Balshar al-Assad, his son, to become the President nominated by the Ba’ath Party in July 10, 2000. Also, the fact that almost all opposing political parties are banned helped Balshar easily won the election.

Following Balshar’s election, numerous political pro-democracy activists rose, demanding for democratic elections and campaign of civil disobedience against the government. This political movement is called the Damascus Spring, with the hope of reform towards a more democratic government. However, by autumn 2001, Balshar had already imprisoned some of the leading activists. This caused the establishment of Damascus Declaration, which stated the Syrian government violated human rights.

Over the years of Balshar’s regime, the media is tightened with laws forcing Internet cafes and hotels to record all posted comments in chat forums. Once comments regarding the opposition against the government are found, the police force (under Balshar’s control) will be sent to investigate and arrest the commentators. Free journalists and lawyers lost their jobs as the government passed measures which forced the closing of all their offices, contributing to the people’s suffering from unemployment and poverty. Also, websites such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, and Amazon, where popular world-wide communication is held, were blocked. Recently, in November 29, 2012 (just 4 days ago), the Syrian government cut off the entire nation’s Internet with the purpose to hide its crime against humanity and prevent the spread of information which might motivate the joining of more protestors (bombing, killing, arresting citizens and political figures who took place in protests). The following actions violated Voltaire’s idea of freedom of speech. Not only that, Syria’s petroleum was used for Balshar and his close relatives’ extravagant living instead of benefiting the citizens by improving their lives and responding to their needs. This violates Locke’s idea of right to property since petroleum belonged to everyone and should be used for everyone’s benefit, but the government stole the resource and make it their own.

Clearly, these actions by Hafez and Balshar above angered and motivated the Syrian citizens to rebel. Through an interview conducted with Ali Haidar, leader of the People’s Council’s PFCL, it is clear the protestors had lost their patience after a long string of Balshar’s abuses and human/natural rights violations. This is similar to the British colonies when they stated in the Declaration of Independence “Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies…Systems of Government.” What Syrian protestors seek is reform for a more democratic government, a greater power/representation/influence in the government, the resignation of Balshar al-Assad, and the dissolution of the Ba’ath Party/the Syrian Army. Not only the citizen’s natural/human rights are unprotected by the government, but they are also violated. The government did not respond to the people’s needs, left them to suffer from extreme poverty and unemployment, and used the country’s money for its own benefits. Since the government, Balshar al-Assad specifically, failed to do so, it is only fair for the citizens to rebel and set up a new government (Locke and Hobbes’s idea of social contract), through the use of Rousseau’s social contract, that suits the majority’s will. The Ba’ath Party is one of the leading factor that contributed to Syria’s dictatorship since it gave Balshar lots of power. It is reasonable to eliminate this party to prevent history from repeating itself. The Syrian Army fought for Balshar and took part in crushing down rebellions, another major obstacle that prevents the people to enforce reforms through rebellions. Also, in order to respond to what is the best for the community as a whole and prevent minorities from gaining too much power, the majority needs to have the most power and influence in the government. Lastly, since protests are taking place, it is the government’s goal, which is completely opposite from the protestors’ goals, to crush down these rebellions through violence and brutal tactics such as sending the army to oppress the protestors, or cut off communication between the protestors among themselves to prevent the spread of information which will motivate other citizens to rebel as well.

Despite these obstacles the Syrians have to overcome to completely diminish Balshar’s dictatorship, there are still successful attempts/achievements which show Syria’s movement towards a more democratic government. Another main factor that contributed to Syria’s dictatorship is the emergency law, and it was one of the people’s goal to get rid of it. In March 2011, a group of people protest, wanting to end the emergency law. With added pressure from the United States, the rebel was successful since Balshar al-Assad announced he will end the emergency law in April 19, 2011. However, the citizens’ rights are still not fully protected since Balshar still have a lot of power from the military and the Ba’ath Party. In addition, the rebels stormed Damascus, demanding the government to free certain political prisoners and allow rights to protest. Balshar agreed unexpectedly and allowed peaceful protests where he will not send troops to fire at the protestors. Then, citizens started protesting peacefully but Balshar broke his promise and send the Syrian Army to fire and surround several cities. This started the Syrian Civil War and caused the creation of the Free Syrian Army in July 2011, a tool which will strengthen the citizen’s side and help crush down the government and its army, physically, in the future. The Syrian Civil War is somewhat similar to the English Civil War. The English Civil War happened between royalists and antiroyalists because the antiroyalists wanted to overthrow the king who believed in divine right and ignored Parliament. While in Syria, the rebel group and government’s forces fought each other to get rid of Balshar. In both situations, the ruler failed to protect the citizens’ rights, so they had the right to rebel and change the government. Britain developed a constitutional monarchy, while in Syria, a democracy is still developing.

The citizen’s side is accompanied and supported by the international community. The United States, who favored and tried to spread democracy, along with the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the EU states, the GCC states, and other countries tried to condemn Syrian government’s use of violence against the protestors. The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership and sent an observer mission to try to resolve the civil conflict. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also suspended Syria’s membership while the EU states, U.S, and the GCC states sent troops to root for the Free Syrian Army. This much effort should be enough to help the people remove Syria’s authoritarian government through warfare and negotiations.

The push for democracy will succeed, since Syria is almost half-way in getting rid of Balshar’s dictatorship. It had successfully remove the emergency law. Now all that’s left is to dissolve the Ba’ath Party and the Syrian Army. When these reforms finally take place, Balshar’s power will be reduced to almost nothing but that of an average citizen. With troops provided by the international community, it is self-evident Syria, through the Free Syrian Army, will successfully remove the Syrian Army. Once Balshar’s dictatorship is finally removed, either the United States’ King-Crane Commission or the United Nations or both will surely come to help Syria reconstruct its political/governmental system in a democratic way, just time when Syria . Considering the goals and achievements of the protestors resulted from strong motivations, there is no way these protestors will let history repeat itself.

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