Syria Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Syrian Arab Republic

Type: republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1963

Capital: Damascus

Political subdivisions: 13 provinces and city of Damascus administered as separate unit

Legal system: based on Islamic law and civil law system; special religious courts; constitution promulgated in 1973; legal education at Damascus University and University of Aleppo; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 17 April

Branches: executive powers vested in President and Council of Ministers; power rests in unicameral legislative (People’s Council); seat of power is the Ba’th Party Regional (Syrian) Command

Government leader: Lt. Gen. Hafiz al- ASSAD, President (since February 1971)

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: People’s Council election held November 1983; presidential election held February 1985

Political parties and leaders: ruling party is the Arab Socialist Resurrectionist (Ba’th) Party; the Progressive National Front is dominated by Ba’thists but includes independents and members of the Syrian Arab Socialist Party (ASP), Arab Socialist Union (ASU), Socialist Unionist Movement, and Syrian Communist Party (SCP)

Communists: mostly sympathizers, numbering about 5,000

Other political or pressure groups: non-Ba’th parties have little effective political influence; Communist Party ineffective; greatest threat to Assad regime lies in factionalism in the military; conservative religious leaders; Muslim Brotherhood

Member of: Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAFA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WSG, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding Syria on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Syria 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Syria 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.