Thus leapt the Baath
June 10, 2005
Baath Party Congress, Damascus, June 10, 2005.
It's all over and done with, but was it really worth waiting for? Are the disappointed ones raining on anyone's parade in Syria? In the end, no big decisions were taken, but a lot of "recommendations" were thoughtfully drafted by the over 1,200 party delegates to help run the government run the country. How considerate of them.
Calling this "reform," however, would be stretching things a bit.
The emergency law in place since 1963 will be "modified" (it remains to be clarified how) and some parties will be allowed, as long as they are not based on religious, sectarian or regional basis. (But isn't the Baath party a regional one?) No "Christian Democrats" or their Muslim equivalent, in other words.
There is a brand new, reduced regional command with nine new comrades, including a woman (apparently one area where there are no glass ceiling issues). As for the proposals regarding media laws (including a "higher council" whose bearing I am simply dreading), it remains to be seen how exactly that will help Syria's communication problems. What was needed was a completely new approach, not more of the same.
The real political and economic reforms which have been promised and talked about ad nauseam since the last party conference will have to wait. Or so the Baath thinks.
