Syria bill allows for other parties
Syria’s government has endorsed a law that it says will allow the formation of political parties alongside President Bashar Assad’s ruling Baath Party.
The draft bill approved by the Cabinet late yesterday is part of a series of reforms promised by President Assad in his bid to quell more than four months of protests against his regime.
He has coupled his pledges with a deadly crackdown on protesters that activists say has killed at least 1,600 people.
Syria’s opposition has dismissed the government’s proposed reforms as largely symbolic, and protesters have shifted from demanding political change to calling for the downfall of the regime.
The Baath party has held a monopoly and control over political life in Syria for decades.
