BEIRUT — As Syrian forces stepped up their assault Wednesday on rebellious cities, President Bashar Assad ordered a referendum on a new constitution that would create a multiparty system in a country that has been ruled by his autocratic family dynasty for 40 years.
| Once again a constitution is changed, and once again it just so happens that all the changes favor the strong-man who happens to be in charge. Coincidences abound... |
Such a change would have been unheard of a year ago, and AssadÂ’s regime is touting the new constitution as the centerpiece of reforms aimed at calming SyriaÂ’s upheaval. But after 11 months of bloodshed, with well over 5,000 dead in the regimeÂ’s crackdown on protesters and rebels, AssadÂ’s opponents say the referendum and reforms are not enough and that the countryÂ’s strongman must go.
“The people in the street today have demands, and one of these demands is the departure of this regime,” said Khalaf Dahowd, a member of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, an umbrella for several opposition groups in Syria and in exile.
The White House also dismissed the referendum. Press secretary Jay Carney called the move “laughable” in light of ongoing brutality by the Syrian military and said it “makes a mockery” of the uprising.
| Like a stopped clock, Mr. Carney occasionally gets one right... |
AssadÂ’s call for a referendum, set for Feb. 26, also raises the question of how a nationwide vote could be held at a time when many areas see daily battles between Syrian troops and rebel soldiers.
| Only in secured neighborhoods, of course. See how that works? |
Amendments to the constitution once were a key demand by the opposition at the start of SyriaÂ’s uprising, when protesters first launched demonstrations calling for change. Assad has also talked of holding parliament elections after the referendum. But after months of the regimeÂ’s fearsome crackdown, the opposition dismisses any talk of reform, saying that they donÂ’t believe Assad will really loosen his iron grip on power and that his ouster is the only solution.
Russia, a top Syrian ally, has presented AssadÂ’s reform promises as an alternative way to resolve SyriaÂ’s bloodshed.
| And who would know more about constitutional reform than the Russians? |
The current Syrian constitution enshrines Assad’s Baath Party as the leader of the state. But according to the new draft, “the state’s political system is based on political pluralism and power is practiced democratically through voting.”
| There will be the Syrian Baath Party, the Baath Party of Syria, the Popular Baath Party, the Baath Populist Party... |
The draft also says the president can hold office only for a maximum of two seven-year terms. Assad, who inherited power from his father, has been in power for nearly 12 years. His father, Hafez, ruled for 30 years.
| And in fourteen years, there would be a popular demand to write another constitution... |
The Syrian constitution has been amended in the past — most crucially, to allow Assad to take power in 2000. After his father’s death, Parliament quickly lowered the presidential age requirement from 40 to 34 so that the ruling Baath party could nominate Bashar Assad. His appointment was sealed by a nationwide referendum, in which he was the only candidate.
The new draft reinstates the requirement of 40 and mandates that any presidential candidate must have lived continuously in Syria for at least a decade. That would to rule out the candidacy of Syrian dissidents who have lived in exile out of fear for their lives.
| It creates a certain problem for the dissidents: come to Syria and live in fear for their lives, or stay away and subsequently be scorned, after the revolution, as one who didn't share the pain. |
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