Arab Socialist Union Party (Syria)
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Arab Socialist Union Party of Syria حزب الاتحاد الاشتراكي العربي في سورية | |
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Left-wing | |
National affiliation | National Progressive Front |
People's Assembly | 3 / 250 |
Website | |
http://asuparty.org/ | |
The Arab Socialist Union Party of Syria (
At the last
History
Background: Arab Socialism in Syria
Non-Nasserite
In 1959, the Syrian section of the Baath Party dissolved to leave room for the National Union, which was the only legal party within the
Formation as opposition
In 1964, these Syrian Nasserist parties and organizations (including the SUP, the Movement of Arab Nationalists, the United Arab Front and the Socialist Union) created a Syrian branch of the Egyptian-led Arab Socialist Union, which—after a Nasserite coup attempt in the Spring of 1963—was in militant opposition to Syria's Baath-led government. The organization was led by exiles in Cairo, and remained weakly organized in Syria despite considerable popular support, due to restrictions imposed by the Baathists. It quickly fragmented, with a faction of the former SU under Faiz Ismail removing itself from the ASU. The Arab Nationalist Movement also continued to work in their separate organizational structures in Syria, despite being formally committed to Nasser's order to unite in the ASU; much of this organization later dissolved into different political groups, including the ASU and the Palestinian PFLP and DFLP factions.
Legalization and split
After Hafez al-Assad took power in 1970, the ASU entered into negotiations about a coalition government, and agreed to join the National Progressive Front (NPF) in 1972. The year after, however, the party split over the adoption of a Syrian constitution in which the Baath was proclaimed the "leading party" of the country. One minor faction under Fawzi Kiyali accepted the constitution, and retained both the ASU name and the NPF membership, while most members followed party leader Jamal al-Atassi into opposition, by renaming themselves the Democratic Arab Socialist Union. Both ASU (Syria) and DASU distanced themselves from Anwar Sadat's government, particularly after his policies towards Israel became more conciliatory, and their close relations with Cairo were lost before the Egyptian mother party itself dissolved in the mid-1970s.
ASU and DASU today
The Arab Socialist Union Party of Syria (i.e., the ex-Kiyali faction), which glorifies the Baath presidency and shows virtually no independence from the government, has long been led by
Since the death of al-Atassi, the DASU has been led by Hassan Abdelazim. It remains an illegal party and has been subject to sporadic repression; although it became semi-openly active after the accession of Bashar al-Assad to power in 2000, and under the limited liberalization that followed. The DASU is the leading member of the National Democratic Gathering, a nationalist-leftist opposition alliance founded in 1979.
Parliamentary elections
People's Council of Syria
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Election year | # of overall seats won |
± | |||
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2007 | 8 / 250
|
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2012 | 2 / 250
|
6 | |||
2016 | 2 / 250
|
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2020 | 3 / 250
|
1 |
See also
References
- doi:10.2307/3011567.
External links
- Syrian ASU Party website (in Arabic)