Regional instability opens the door for another era of Baath supremacy, writes Sami Moubayed The ruling Baath Party in Syria issued a communiqué last week "requesting from Baathist party authorities to interfere in state-appointments, so that they pass through the party apparatus" -- meaning that the Baath Party was being given new authority to hire and fire officials, and that no Syrian could assume a government job without being approved by the Baath. This mirrors the way things were done in Syria from the 1960s to the 1990s. At the time, any senior selection for state-run institutions had to be chosen from the Baath Party. Injecting the Baathists with confidence, this new decree is a shock to independents who had been relieved by the slow de-Baathification Syria had witnessed since 2000. Shortly after the Iraq War in 2003, the Baath Party issued a law saying that the party's role was to supervise state affairs, not interfere in day-to-day politics. The law added that selection for government office from then on would be according to merit and not Baathist credentials. This led many to speculate that the party was preparing the public for a non-Baathist prime minister. The speculations were halted however by the then Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara who announced that Syria will not de- Baathify, and the consequent appointment of Mohamed Naji Al-Otari (a Baathist) as premiere. But Syria did start to de-Baathify without saying it to the world. Scores of prominent independents were brought to posts that were traditionally reserved for the Baathists. They included Hani Murtada, the former minister of higher education, Issam Awwa, the former president of Damascus University, Imad Mustapha, Syria's ambassador to the United States, Sami Al-Khiyyami, the ambassador to Great Britain, and Abdullah Al-Dardari, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs. The most recent non-Baathist to assume senior office was Najah Al-Attar, the new vice- president of the republic. More signals that Syria was de-Baathifying itself were shown at the Baath Party Congress of June 2005, when the Baathist command promised a multi- party political system to end the one-party system that existed since 1963. Later that year, in November 2005, Asad gave an important speech at Damascus University surrounded by nothing but Syrian flags. Not one Baath Party flag was in sight -- uncommon in Syria since 1963. All of those who hoped for de-Baathification suffered consecutive blows when in June 2006, one year after the Baath Party Congress, no party law has been passed in Syria. Article Eight, which says that the Baath is the ruler of state and society, is still intact. Earlier, the independent Hani Murtada was replaced by the Baathist Dr Giath Barakat. The purpose, a senior Baathist told Al-Ahram Weekly, was to "enforce the party's status as the ruler of state and society, as stated in Article Eight of the Syrian Constitution." Basically, when all of the previous de- Baathification measures were being taken, the Syrian regime was being cornered and needed to reform in order to appease the Syrian public. Among other things, they started to de-Baathify. Now, matters have changed for Syria as it clearly becomes more relaxed in regional and international politics. The chaos in Iraq and the rising death toll has turned US attention away from Syria and concentrated Washington's efforts on nation-building and security-keeping in Iraq. The escalation of the Iranian-US nuclear issue has also served Syria's interest, diverting the world's attention from Damascus. Although it has left Lebanon since April 2005, the Syrian regime is clearly still in control of important cards in Lebanon, thanks to its staunch allies Nabih Berri and Hassan Nasrallah. All topics currently being debated at the National Roundtable Dialogue in Lebanon are directly related to Syria. They include the demarcation of the Lebanese border, the identity of the Shebaa Farms, the arms of Hizbullah, and the mandate of President Emile Lahoud. Syria still has the power to shake things up in Lebanon -- if it so wishes. In Palestinian affairs, Syria's role was elevated once again with the victory of Hamas, giving it a direct role in Palestinian politics after its wings had been sharply clipped when Mahmoud Abbas came to power in January 2005. Finally, the UN report in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri was very balanced and in Syria's favor. It lacked the drama of earlier reports that accused Syria of killing Al-Hariri, and instead commended Syria's cooperation with the UN probe, much to the relief of Damascus. Simply put, for all of the reasons mentioned above, Damascus feels strong again, and is no longer in need to de-Baathify. The Baathists came to power with force in 1963, and will not give up or share power easily. This might explain why Syria launched several high profile arrests in May 2006, jailing the prominent writer Michel Kilo and the human rights activist Anwar Al-Bunni. It was sending a clear message saying: "When we were in trouble a year ago and felt weak, you were giving us a hard time yet we did not arrest you. Now that we are strong again, we are getting back at you." Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition is also changing face to become more pragmatic. In a surprising move the exiled leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, Ali Sadreddin Al-Baynouni, announced that his party would be willing to conduct dialogue with Israel. This is a shock to the Syrian people who traditionally know the Brotherhood as one of the loudest anti- peace political groups in Syria. Baynouni talked to Reuters about what he envisions if the Brotherhood replaced the Baathists in Syria saying: "If talks lead to withdrawal from occupied lands and give Palestinians their rights then what's wrong with it?" But this was not the stance of the Brotherhood in 1948, 1967, 1973, 1982, or during the peace talks of the 1990s. They wanted to wipe Israel off the map, and harangued the regime for conducting peace talks with Ehud Barak in the 1990s. Apparently, the Brotherhood, now in alliance with and being advised by the pragmatic former Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam, is sending off a smart signal to the United States on what to expect in post- Baathist Syria. Baynouni wants the Americans to understand that the Brotherhood is not Al-Qaeda and is not opposed to dialogue, peace talks, and democracy, as its enemies are saying. At the time this article went to press, Damascus has not responded to the Brotherhood's U-turn vis-à-vis peace-talks with Israel.
