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A constitutional referendum was held in Syria on 26 February 2012. In response to the Syrian Civil War, President Bashar al-Assad ordered a new constitution to be drafted. [1] The referendum was not monitored by foreign observers. [2]
The new constitution would set a limit of two seven-year terms for future presidents and also removed Article 8 of the constitution of Syria, which stated that "the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party leads the state and society." [3]
The new constitution removes the de jure Ba'ath Party monopoly over the political life of Syria. The text also prohibits the formation of political parties on an ethnic, religious, regional or tribal basis. [4] However, any planned political party must get the government's permission and approval before it is to be formed. [5]
According to the new constitution, presidential elections are held every seven years. They are intended to be contested by several candidates, unlike the old form of election in which a single candidate was approved or rejected. [4]
The conditions required to be candidate at the presidential election are the following:
Syria will no longer be a planned socialist economy but will focus on the principle of developing public and private economy in order to boost the national income and to develop the production to create jobs and raise the standard of living. The constitution states that development is the goal of all economics of policy and that consumers and producers are protected. Private property is protected and can only be confiscated for necessities of war and disasters and only for a fair compensation. [6]
The new constitution says that the state respects and protects all religions, but reaffirms that Islamic jurisprudence is a major source of inspiration, like in the old constitution. [4] The new constitution states that scientific research is supported by the state and the freedom of scientific research, artistic creation, literature and cultural creativity are protected. [6]
The new constitution forbids any discrimination on the grounds of sex, origin, religion or language. [6] National unity, integrity and military service are considered a "sacred duty" while freedom is considered a sacred right. [6]
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, public television hosted discussions about the new constitution and informed citizens how to vote. [7]
The main foreign-based opposition group, the SNC, opposed the proposed constitution and called for a boycott. [8] The Syrian opposition in exile described the new constitution as fraudulent and the referendum as a farce. It pointed out that the Syrian government had never respected the old constitution, which enshrines freedom of speech and peaceful demonstrations and bans torture. [9]
Due to the ongoing fighting in Syria, questions were raised over the organization of the vote in the cities of Homs, Hama, Daraa and in the northern province of Idlib, which are areas held by the rebellion. Voters present in these areas were not able to take part in the referendum unless they traveled to government-held areas.
14.6 million Syrians were eligible to vote, [4] in 14,185 polling stations which were open from 7:00-19:00. [10] Multiple polling stations were set up in each district and neighborhood of central Damascus.
At midday, the interior ministry announced that the referendum was going smoothly in most of the provinces. [11] The interior minister, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, announced that the turnout was "high except in some areas despite threats and intimidation from armed groups." He called the participation in central Damascus "remarkable." [11] [12]
Canadian-based Global News reported that the turnout was high in pro-Assad neighbourhoods or areas with a high security presence, but made note that areas which have held anti-government protests had a very low turnout. They also suggested that though a portion of the voters were opposed to the government, there was also a belief that the referendum would be "a step in the right direction." It also suggested that in pro-government neighbourhood there was pressure to vote and pressure to boycott the vote in anti-government neighbourhoods. [13]
President Bashar al-Assad voted with his wife Asma at a voting centre located at the headquarters of the national television where he was cheered by their employees. [14] A crowd of Assad supporters in Damascus showed their support for the referendum. [15]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes | 7,490,319 | 89.42 |
| No | 753,208 | 8.99 |
| Invalid or blank votes | 132,920 | 1.59 |
| Total votes | 8,376,447 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 14,589,954 | 57.41 |
| Source: Direct Democracy | ||
With a voter turnout of 57.4% and 89.4% voting in favour, the new constitution was adopted. [16] President Al-Assad signed the new constitution into force on 27 February 2012. [17]
Russia - A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement welcomed the referendum outcome, saying that the referendum had shown popular support of the government’s reform programme and denied legitimacy to the Syrian opposition, which tried but failed to persuade the people to boycott the vote. Russia also urged the Syrian sides to renounce violence and enter into a dialogue without preconditions. [18] 
Politics in the Syrian Arab Republic takes place in the framework of a presidential republic with nominal multi-party representation in People's Council under the Ba'athist-dominated National Progressive Front. In practice, Syria is a one-party state where independent parties are outlawed; with a powerful secret police that cracks down on dissidents. Since the 1963 seizure of power by its Military Committee, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party has governed Syria as a totalitarian police state. After a period of intra-party strife, Hafez al-Assad gained control of the party following the 1970 coup d'état and his family has dominated the country's politics ever since.
Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbours and securing the return of the Golan Heights, have been the primary goals of the Syrian Arab Republic's foreign policy. At many points in its history, Syria has seen tension with its neighbours, such as Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Syria enjoyed an improvement in relations with several of the states in its region in the 21st century, prior to the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War.
Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician who is the current and 19th president of Syria since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which nominally espouses a neo-Ba'athist ideology. His father and predecessor was General Hafiz al-Assad, whose presidency in 1971–2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a de facto dynastic dictatorship tightly controlled by an Alawite-dominated elite composed of the armed forces and the Mukhabarat, who are loyal to the al-Assad family.
A civil war has been going on in Syria since 2011, following the events of the 2011 Syrian Revolution, which was part of the international wave of protest known as the Arab Spring. The government, headed by Bashar al-Assad, son of previous leader Hafez al-Assad, is based in Damascus, the traditional capital. The Ba'athist government conducts Presidential elections and parliamentary elections to the People's Council.
The National Progressive Front is a pro-government coalition of left-wing parties in Syria that supports the Arab nationalist and Arab socialist orientation of the government and accepts the "leading role" of the ruling Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. The coalition was formed on the basis of the Popular Front model of Socialist Bloc, through which Syrian Ba'ath party governs the country by permitting nominal participation of smaller, satellite parties. The NPF is part of Ba'ath Party's efforts to expand its support base and neutralize prospects for any sustainable liberal or left-wing opposition, by instigating splits within independent leftist parties or repressing them.
A referendum to confirm the presidential candidate Bashar al-Assad was held in Syria on 27 May 2007, after the People's Council of Syria unanimously voted to propose the incumbent for a second term on 10 May 2007.
The Cabinet of Syria or Council of Ministers is the chief executive body of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Parliamentary elections were held in Syria on 7 May 2012 to elect the members of the Syrian People's Council. The elections followed the approval of a new constitution in a referendum on 26 February 2012.
The modern history of Syria begins with the termination of Ottoman control of Syria by French forces and the establishment of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration during World War I. The short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria emerged in 1920, which was however soon committed under the French Mandate, which produced the short-lived autonomous State of Aleppo, State of Damascus, Alawite State and Jabal al-Druze (state); the autonomies were transformed into the Mandatory Syrian Republic in 1930. Syrian Republic gained independence in April 1946. The Republic took part in the Arab-Israeli War and remained in a state of political instability during the 1950s and 1960s.
The Rif Dimashq clashes were a series of unrests and armed clashes in and around Damascus, the capital of Syria, from November 2011 until a stalemate in March 2012. The violence was part of the wider early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war. Large pro-government and anti-government protests took place in the suburbs and center of Damascus, with the situation escalating when members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) started attacking military targets in November.
The 2012 Aleppo Governorate clashes were a series of battles as part of the early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war in the Aleppo Governorate of Syria.
The December 2011 Syrian-Turkey border clash was an unsuccessful attempt by armed men to infiltrate into Syria from Turkey.
The September 2011 – March 2012 Idlib Governorate clashes were the violent incidents that took place in Idlib Governorate, a province of Syria, from September 2011 and prior to the April 2012 Idlib Governorate Operation.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to April 2012, during which time the spate of protests that began in January 2011 lasted into another calendar year. An Arab League monitoring mission ended in failure as Syrian troops and anti-government militants continued to do battle across the country and the Syrian government prevented foreign observers from touring active battlefields, including besieged opposition strongholds. A United Nations-backed ceasefire brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan met a similar fate, with unarmed UN peacekeepers' movements tightly controlled by the government and fighting.
Addounia TV was a private television station based in Damascus, Syria since March 23, 2007. The station is described by some western media as "semi-official" and a "mouthpiece of the government." Addounia TV was a sister channel of Sama TV. The channel was shut down in 2015.
This article details the Syrian government's response to protests and civilian uprisings of the Syrian revolution which began in early 2011, that unravelled the socio-political stability of Syria, eventually plunging the country into a nationwide civil war by mid-2012.
Presidential elections were held in Syria on 3 June 2014. There is a scholarly consensus that the elections were not democratic. The result was a landslide victory for Bashar al-Assad, who received over 90% of the valid votes. He was sworn in for a third seven-year term on 16 July in the presidential palace in Damascus.
The history of Syria covers events which occurred on the territory of the present Syrian Arab Republic and events which occurred in the region of Syria. Throughout ancient times the territory of present Syrian Arab Republic was occupied and ruled by several empires, including the Sumerians, Mitanni, Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Arameans, Amorites, Persians, Greeks and Romans. Syria is considered to have emerged as an independent country for the first time on 24 October 1945, upon the signing of the United Nations Charter by the Syrian government, effectively ending France's mandate by the League of Nations to "render administrative advice and assistance to the population" of Syria, which came in effect in April 1946.
Parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in Syria on 13 April 2020 to elect members of the People's Council of Syria. However, on 14 March they were postponed to 20 May due to the coronavirus pandemic. On 7 May it was decided to postpone the elections until 19 July. Syria's parliamentary elections occur every four years, with the last held in 2016.
Presidential elections were held in Syria on 26 May 2021, with expatriates able to vote in some embassies abroad on 20 May. The three candidates were incumbent president Bashar al-Assad, Mahmoud Ahmad Marei and Abdullah Sallum Abdullah. The elections were considered not to be free and fair. The United Nations condemned the elections as an illegitimate process with "no mandate"; accusing the Ba'athist regime of undermining UN Resolution 2254 and for obstructing the UN-backed political solution that calls for a "free and fair elections" under international monitoring.
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| Parliamentary elections | |
| Local elections | |
| Referendums | |
