Syria's cabinet has backed a draft law to allow rival political parties (click title to entry - thank you) to the ruling Ba'ath party of president Bashar al-Assad for the first time in decades, but the move has been largely dismissed by opposition groups as an empty gesture.
The draft law, which must be ratified by parliament, permits parties that commit to "principles of democracy" but prohibits those affiliated to organisations outside Syria and those based on religion, tribe, denomination or profession, the state media agency Sana reported. If implemented fully, it could end decades of monopoly by the Ba'ath party, which banned opposition groups in the country after coming to power in a military coup in 1963.
In 1972 Assad's father and former president Hafez allowed parties willing to form a coalition with the Ba'ath party under the National Progressive Front, for which 167 of 250 seats in the parliament are reserved, but the other parties are mainly window-dressing for Ba'athist rule.
Syrian officials have increasingly spoken of a transition to democracy, showing how far protesters have pushed regime discourse in more than four months of protests. But the move was met with widespread scepticism by activists and opposition figures, inside and outside the country who say words have not been followed by actions.
"Bashar al-Assad has made tremendous concessions – he lifted the state of emergency which was the top demand of the Syrian opposition of the last 40 years, but the security killed people the next day," said Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian dissident and rights activist exiled in the US....
