The most prominent lines of the current Syrian constitution and the proposed amendments
The Syrian Constitutional Committee, consisting of 150 members representing equally the government, the opposition and civil society, began its first meeting on Thursday, October 31, 2019 at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, with the aim of carrying out a constitutional review. The 2012 constitution constitutes the basis from which discussions will begin, so what are its main headings? Announcement
– Outlines –
Syrians approved the current constitution by a popular referendum in February 2012 submitted by the authorities as part of reforms aimed at calming the unprecedented protests that erupted against them in mid-March 2011 before they turned into a bloody conflict.
Oppositions at home and abroad announced a boycott of the referendum due to the repression of the popular uprising at the time.
The constitution abolished the leading role of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, which has ruled the country since 1963, and an article stipulating “political pluralism” replaced Article 8, which stresses the role of the party as a “leader in the state and society.”
After the nomination of the president under the 1973 constitution was obtained by the People’s Assembly based on a proposal from the Baath Party, on which citizens would be put to a referendum, the 2012 constitution stipulated that the president would be elected directly by the people, for a period of seven years, provided that he could only be re-elected “for one subsequent term.”
The constitution specified that mandate counting would begin after the 2014 elections, which returned Bashar al-Assad to power for a third term. He raised the age of candidacy to 40 years, after a constitutional amendment following the death of former President Hafez al-Assad in 2000, reduced the age to 34 years to allow the current president to take over the presidency.
Under the 2012 constitution, al-Assad is the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, and he can propose laws and legislation.
The constitution affirmed respect for religions, but prohibited “the practice of any political activity or the establishment of political parties or gatherings on a religious, sectarian, tribal, regional, factional or professional basis,” which practically closes the door for the banned Muslim Brotherhood and Kurdish parties to engage in political action. As groups of one ethnic or sectarian color.
