New Syrian leadership of a majority of new faces
Syria, Politics, 5/18/2000

So far 15 years have elapsed since the convening of the recent regional conference of the ruling Baath party.

A period of time during which three conferences were supposed to have been held, as it is presumed that a regional conference for the Baath party have to be held every five years. But the Gulf war, then the Madrid peace conference and efforts devoted later on to follow up the peace process and regional developments, all prevented the conferences.

President al-Assad who is the only one is able to " sign" the political settlement for the crisis of the region is viewed by the Syrians as a " reference who knows what should be realized out of the peace process," according to one western diplomat working in Damascus.

Observers in Damascus say that should peace negotiations result in peace, President al-Assad would have held the party's regional conference after the peace process.

A high ranking Syrian official confirms that the Baath Party regional conference " will be held for internal needs rather than external needs" and that most the important of these internal needs is to withstand corruption, modernize the state, develop the economy and the banking sector and to make use of contemporary technology.

When this official was asked why you have been late for 13 years to fight corruption, especially as the period al-Zou'bi spent as a prime minister was long and why he was not tried during that period of time, the answer is " al-Zou'bi was on the head of the government, then who (would have) asked him. But when the new government comes under the chairmanship of Dr. Miro and discovered the corruption in the files of the former government trials have started."

And this is what for instance happened in Germany with former chancellor Helmut Kohl, the former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Kraksi in Italy and with Roland Domand in France as the government does not question the prime minister while he is still in power, but when he quits."

The Lebanese daily al-Nahar said today that the new faces in the leadership will exceed more than 50%, noting that the leadership member who was 50 in 1985 is now 65.

It is however notable that son of the Syrian President Bashar is the main representative of the new voices.

Previous Stories:
  Syrian Party's Regional leadership meets today   (5/17/2000)
  On the Baath party elections in Syria   (5/13/2000)
  Corruption fighting campaign in Syria promises great changes   (5/12/2000)

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