Syria Today | A Question of Principles

Could Syrian-Arab League relations, recently strained by sanctions, cause a revision of the party's pan-Arab ideology?

By Muhammad Atef Fares
Photo Adel Samara

The Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party (BASP), which will celebrate its 65th birthday this year, is facing an unprecedented challenge that could make this anniversary its last as "the leading party of society and state" as the party is defined in the eighth article of the constitution.

Founded on a pan-Arab and anti-Western imperialist ideology that calls for "Unity, Freedom, and Socialism", the party evidently still plays its leading role. It holds 134 of the 250 seats in the parliament, and schoolchildren continue to sing anthems to "the Ba'ath Party, oh my homeland, a rock in the face of the enemies; the Party of labourer and farmer, to whom we granted the leadership."

However, according to critics, the Ba'ath has recently been less active or even absent from the political scene, especially since protests broke out. It has also been targeted during many anti-government demonstrations, in chants denouncing Ba'athists' alleged corruption and the party's hegemony over Syrians' lives. Moreover, in the wake of Arab League sanctions, the party's long-held principle of pan-Arabism is under fierce debate.

Unity with "traitors"?
Ba'ath slogans and their real-life applications have also been criticised by both pro- and anti- government figures. This criticism increased after the Arab League intervened in the Syrian crisis in early November 2011 by announcing an initiative which included ending violence against protestors, withdrawing armed forces form cities, releasing detainees, and permitting observers and media workers access to the country. Three weeks later, it also suspended Syria's participation in the league's meetings, which caused much controversy, since the country was one of the organisation's founders.

On December 20, Walid al-Mu'allem, the Syrian foreign and expatriates minister, accused the league of internationalising the crisis, thus supporting the hostile foreign powers which instigated it.

During a meeting with a visiting Jordanian delegation on December 18, the party's assistant secretary general, Abdullah al-Ahmar, also stressed that "Syria is targeted because of...its support of Arab issues, particularly the resistance," state-run news agency SANA reported. This is to say that the league's decisions constitute a breach of its founding values.

Indeed, on December 24, former Director-General of the state-run General Organisation of Radio and TV and former Director-General of SANA Fayez Sayegh asked on the privately-owned Syrian news website alazmenah.com how Syrians could trust the Arab initiative since it was supported by Shimon Peres, referring to a CNN interview with the Israeli President on December 11. After denouncing prominent Arab figures such as Amr Mousa, former secretary general of the league, who adopted a resolution that allowed the NATO bombing of Libya, Sayegh declared, "Our [Arab] brothers have lost their credibility...I believe we are facing an Arab trap."

In response to this perceived violation, following the imposition of sanctions, government supporters took to the streets in rallies calling for a boycott of the Arab League and the removal of the word "Arab" from their country's name. This was in stark contradiction to the Ba'ath Party's ideal of pan-Arabism.

"This is extreme and wrong," Mohamed Kanaissi, editor-in-chief of state-run daily Al-Baath, told Syria Today. He explained that the masses are against Arab regimes' practices, not against Arab people or Arabism. However, he added, "by such decisions, Syrians were stabbed in their [identity based on] Arabism."

Losing face
Voices from outside the Ba'ath have also heavily blamed the party's promotion of pan-Arabism for worsening many Syrians' socio-economic situations.

On the day Arab sanctions were declared, Hazem Saghieh, a Lebanese writer and journalist, wrote in the private Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat that Damascus' Arabism is required by its regional role which allows Syria to intervene in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestinians' policies, and Arab-Iranian relations.

Some critiques from within Syria were so heavy as to be deemed illegal. On November 23, the Syrian authorities withdrew an edition of private daily Baladna from circulation because of an article by Syrian writer Bassam Jneid, who described the party as "a group of thieves who looted the country". He also criticised the party's ideological position, declaring, "after Freedom and Socialism, the slogan of Unity collapsed, and [BASP] supporters came out to declare that it is not 'One [Arab] Nation', and its 'mission' is not 'immortal'. The opposition and pro-government forces have agreed that the ruling party has dissolved itself."

Taleb Kadi Amin, the head of the National Media Council, said the decision came in response to Jneid 's "insults" against Ba'ath party affiliates. While emphasising that he respected "rights to self-expression", he explained that "what is mentioned in the article is not an opinion to respect, but [rather] an explicit invitation to sedition, and a pamphlet to incite the sabotage of the country, and this is contrary to the media law."

Revision and revival
Indeed, the party itself is set to undergo major legal repositioning. On October 15, President Bashar al-Assad announced the formation of a national committee responsible for preparing a draft constitution in which, according to Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu'allem, there will be no article in which the Ba'ath is defined as the country's leading party. The new constitution will end one-party rule in Syria, whereby the party monopolised political life in Syria. Already, new parties are entering the political fray.

"The party will enter a political competition," Georges Jabbour, a political analyst and former MP, told Syria Today, adding that this, along with reform, "is in its interest." Furthermore, he said, "its Arab nationalist ideology has to be strengthened," because Syria's very constitution defines the country as an Arab republic, a member of the Arab League, a part of the "Arab homeland", and made up of a people who are a part of the Arab nation.

"Those are facts," Jabbour insisted. "I think what is going on between Syria and the Arab League cannot change those facts, especially since Syria is a founding member of the league and a pilot of the joint Arab work." He added that the main thing necessary to reform the BASP is the development of democracy in relation to its ideology.

Other critics questioned the party's role more radically. "Such an outdated manner of ruling is now no longer possible," insisted Salameh Kaileh, a journalist and writer.

Rather than criticising its ideology, Kaileh pinned the problem on political psychology as it affected the party's formation. "The Ba'ath used government agencies for years to stage rallies and market its ideology," he explained. "Many people, however, joined the party as a passport to make their life easier. Such people, Kaileh argued, "would seek refuge with whoever was in power. Therefore, for the party to compete in the political arena, it would have to prevent them from being part of it."

Kanaissi also called for a revision of intra-party politics. "Democracy [in other words] does exist [within the party], but it is not up to our aspirations."

The party seems to be seeking to review its slogans and relationship with power. On April 13, 2010, Haitham Satayhi, a prominent member of the BASP's Regional Command, said that the leadership was preparing documents to ensure the development of the party's internal regulations and its relationship with the authorities in order to discuss these issues at the party's 11th regional conference. Although this conference was postponed earlier, on January 3, Al-Baath newspaper's website reported that it will finally be held in early February.

On January 4, Qadri Jamil, member of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation and leader of the Syrian Communist Party, described the conference as "an historic opportunity" to adapt to the new political conditions Syria has experienced and to the coming stage, focusing most importantly on pluralism.

"Every political force in Syria is called upon to start development and to eradicate everything from the past while maintaining what is viable," Jamil told Al-Baath.