DAMASCUS, 10 June 2005 — Syria’s ruling Baath party yesterday allowed the emergence of other political parties and the relaxation of the state of emergency. The party’s 10th congress also scaled back the size of the Regional Command, electing several new faces to the top party body, including the first woman. It voted unanimously to renew President Bashar Assad’s term as Baath party leader.
Baath official Ahmed Haj Ali said the political committee “endorsed a relaxation and modification of the emergency law. It will be used only for extreme cases such as war.”
The 21-member Baath Regional Command was slimmed down to 14 ministers, with Vice Presidents Abdel Halim Khaddam and Zuheir Masharka as well as former Defense Minister Mustapha Tlass among the veterans making their exit.
The congress pledged to press ahead with reform, adopting the principle of a “social market economy” that would transform the pervasive public sector while supporting the private sector, state television said.
It also recommended a “revision of the electoral law” for holding legislative and local elections, the television said.
And the party called for the formation of “higher council for information” and amendments to the law on publications that lays down prison terms for offenders. A new press law was expected to allow private media to play an essential role in the future.
The recommendations listed by the television did not mention Article 8 of the constitution, which gives supremacy in government to the Baath party. There have been leaks from Baathists that the article would be amended or toned down.
As the party ended its three-day session, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the United Nations may send a verification team back to Lebanon following reports that elements of Syrian intelligence agencies may not have withdrawn from the country. “We are now receiving reports that there may be elements that are still there, and we are considering the possible return of the verification team to ascertain what is going on,” Annan told reporters at the United Nations.
— Additional input from agencies
