Constitutional referendum in Syria in 2012
A referendum on a new constitution was held in Syria on February 26, 2012 . The proposed constitutional amendments , which include the introduction of a multi-party system , were developed in response to the protests in Syria that have been going on since spring 2011 . President Bashar al-Assad set up a committee for this purpose in October 2011.
14.6 million Syrians were eligible to vote in the referendum , but the opposition had called for a boycott of the vote. The new constitution is inadequate, since Assad, who has ruled since 2000, continues to be accorded “unrestricted privileges”.
background
In the course of the so-called Arab Spring , demonstrations took place in Syria in early 2011. The demonstrators called for political participation and the overthrow of the government. The government used force against the protests. Since then, both sides have been fighting each other at gunpoint. On July 25, the Syrian government approved a bill allowing the establishment of political parties. Parties have to respect the constitution and are not allowed to represent individual religions or ethnic groups. Oppositionists rejected the draft law because political freedom was not guaranteed and demonstrators were being persecuted by security forces. The bill had not yet entered into force.
President Bashar al-Assad set up a committee on October 15 to work out a new constitution. The committee had 4 months to do this. The introduction of a multi-party system had previously been promised.
In February 2012, Assad scheduled the referendum for February 26th. The opposition announced that the referendum would not at least meet their demands as the president's power would not be affected. They called for a boycott of the vote. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the referendum mocked the Syrian revolution and was ridiculous. The German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle spoke of a “further move” by the regime.
Previous constitution
According to the 1973 constitution, Syria was officially a socialist people's republic with a presidential system . However, it has a de facto one- party system ; according to the constitution , the Syrian Ba'ath Party held the leading positions within the state and society. Formally, it is in a coalition with smaller bloc parties . In practice, the Syrian government has the features of a dictatorship.
The legal basis of the constitution, according to Article 3, is the Sharia as the main source of legislation. The applicable marriage and family law in Syria is determined by religious affiliation. Sharia is applicable to Muslims . For Catholic Christians, the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium is authoritative.
The head of state, the holder of executive power and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the president, who has extensive powers and is nominated by parliament according to the constitution and directly elected for a seven-year term. He determines the guidelines of politics, appoints or dismisses the government under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and has the right of initiative and veto. The president must also be of Muslim faith.
The nominal legislature lies with the Syrian People's Council ( Arabic مجلس الشعب, DMG maǧlis aš-šaʿb ), whose 250 members are elected for four years. The current Unity Party is the Ba'ath Party. The General Secretary of the Ba'ath Party is also the President. There are also smaller and insignificant parties, mostly loyal to the government, such as the Syrian Communist Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party , which are bloc parties with the Ba'ath Party to form the National Front coalition . Parties representing an ethnic minority or a religious group are prohibited.
Content of the new constitution
In the new constitution, all references to socialism as well as the Ba'ath Party's claim to leadership as set out in Article 8 of the previous constitution have been deleted. The Syrian President must remain Muslim . Furthermore, he must be Syrian by birth, born in the country and only married to one Syrian woman. The minimum age for voting must be 40 years. The president's term of office is seven years under the new constitution and he can only be re-elected once. The latter only counts after Assad's current term of office. Only those who have the support of at least 35 members of the 250-seat parliament are allowed to stand. Parties are still not allowed to exist on regional, religious or ethnic principles. The People's Council is to be re-elected within 90 days of the referendum.
Referendum result
On February 27, 2012, the Syrian Interior Ministry published the official result of the vote. As a result, 89.4% voted for the new constitution, the turnout was 57.4%. Since no foreign election observers were present at the referendum, the result could not be confirmed by independent sources. The constitution went into effect immediately after the results were announced.
| option | be right | proportion of |
|---|---|---|
| Therefore | 7,490,319 | 89.4% |
| On the other hand | 753.208 | 9.0% |
| invalid / empty | 132,920 | 1.6% |
|
Total (voter turnout 57.4%) |
8,376,447 | 100.0% |
swell
- ↑ Der Standard : Syrians Vote on Constitution , February 26, 2012.
- ^ Syria passes law to allow political parties. Al Jazeera, July 25, 2011, accessed July 27, 2011 .
- ^ Syrian forces 'kill mourners in Damascus'. Aljazeera, October 15, 2011, accessed October 16, 2011 .
- ↑ Ban: "Syria must stop killing its own people". DiePresse.com, February 16, 2012, accessed on February 25, 2012 (audio file).
- ↑ US government calls Assad's referendum "ridiculous". sueddeutsche.de, February 16, 2012, accessed on February 25, 2012 .
- ↑ Money for the dictator: How the German government helped Syria. DasErste.de, July 28, 2011, accessed on December 21, 2011 .
- ^ Ranja Riemer: Panzer, Beatings, Persians: How the Syrian dictatorship put down the civil uprising. news.at, May 14, 2011, accessed on December 21, 2011 .
- ^ Dpa: Dictatorship in the Middle East. Main-Netz, August 2, 2011, accessed on December 21, 2011 .
- ^ Constitution of Syria of March 13, 2003 http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sy00000_.html
- ↑ Preliminary to Art. 13ff. EG in Staudinger, commentary on the BGB
- ↑ Syria (State) - State and Society on Syria ( Memento from May 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Christoph Sydow: Syria in bad shape. (No longer available online.) Zenith Online, February 21, 2012, archived from the original on July 10, 2012 ; Retrieved February 24, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ H. Sabbagh / Mazen: Interior Ministry: 89.4% of the 8,376,447 Voters Agreed to New Constitution. (No longer available online.) SANA , February 27, 2012, archived from the original on February 28, 2012 ; accessed on February 27, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ulrich Leidholdt: 90 percent are supposedly in favor of Syria's new constitution. tagesschau.de , February 27, 2012, archived from the original on February 29, 2012 ; accessed on February 27, 2012 (German).
