Defiant reform
The new government of Mohamed Al-Otari indicates that when it comes to Syrian politics, the unexpected should be expected. Sami Moubayed writes from Damascus
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Syrian school children wear their new unified blue uniforms, changed from gray for the first time in 30 years
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When Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad announced last month his decision to change the 19-month-old cabinet of Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa Miro, speculation soared about the identity of the new premier and the content of his political agenda. One thing was certain: Miro had been too slow in implementing Assad's reforms, and a new, dynamic, independent, and perhaps young prime minister would take over.
The candidates were Dr Rateb Al-Shallah, the veteran president of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, Wafiq Sa'id, a wealthy businessman residing in Europe, and President Assad himself. Some claimed that nobody was as young, dynamic, and capable of the job as the president, promoting the idea that he would assume the premiership to supervise and see that his reforms are carried out in detail.
Speculation that an independent would assume the job were heightened when the ruling Ba'ath Party issued a new law stressing that the party's job is to supervise governmental affairs and not interfere in day-to-day issues. The law further added that the selection for office would from now on be based on merit rather than membership in the Ba'ath Party. The passage of law was largely misunderstood and exaggerated by some Syrian, Arab, and international observers who saw it as the first step in curbing the role of the Ba'ath Party in Syria, as a prelude to eliminating it altogether. This was despite assurances by Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Sharaa that the law does not mean bringing someone like Shallah to office, nor does it mean decreasing the prerogatives of the Ba'ath Party.
Speculationended when Mohamed Naji Al-Otari, an active member of the Ba'ath Party, became prime minister. Considered a good compromise to all parties, he is neither an independent -- which would upset the Ba'athists -- nor is he someone who has been in Syrian public life for too long. It is well known that Al-Otari is trusted by Assad, considering that he rose to power in dramatic speed in the past three years. He became a member of the Ba'ath Party's influential regional committee in June 2000, held office under Miro as deputy prime minister, and became speaker of parliament last March.
Al-Otari is the 12th Ba'ath Party member to become prime minister since 1963, creating the 16th cabinet since the late Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad launched his "correction movement" in 1970. Syrians wondered how Al-Otari, a civil servant with a degree in civil engineering from Aleppo University and a diploma in town planning from Holland, would run the premiership. When the cabinet was finally announced after much anxiety, it was a surprise how few changes it carried.
The reasons were apparent: Syria does not want to institute sweeping changes under pressure from the United States. It also does not want to appear as having weakened under US pressure, as Yasser Arafat appeared to have been when Washington forced him to appoint a reformist prime minister last May. Having portrayed itself as the vanguard of Arab nationalism, especially in the latest war on Iraq, the Syrian Government did not want to be perceived by the Arabs in general, or the Syrians in particular, as too weak to stand up to US demands.
It was rumoured -- and published in some Israeli newspapers -- that Washington did not want Assad to re-appoint Farouk Al-Sharaa as foreign minister and General Mustafa Tlas as defence minister. Sharaa was allegedly vetoed by Washington because he was considered responsible for Syria's pro-Iraq propaganda before, during, and after the Anglo- American war on Baghdad, and his actions were too clear a reflection of Arab nationalism -- something that the US did not appreciate. It was believed that Tlas was vetoed because of his son Firas, a businessman accused in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz of smuggling Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction from Baghdad to Lebanon via Syria.
Ha'aretz alleged that the weapons were buried in the Beqqa Valley, a Hizbullah stronghold. These accusations were seen in Damascus as an Israeli attempt to tarnish the image of Tlas, the most senior and longest lasting Ba'athist officer in the Syrian Army. Wanting to prove that Tlas's son (or in other words Syria) is innocent of the charges, and to emphasise that Syria would not succumb to Israeli and US pressure and abandon its Ba'ath Party leaders, Assad re-appointed the veteran officer as defence minister and Sharaa as foreign minister. By doing so, Assad was sending a clear message to the US and Israel that Syria's policies vis-à-vis Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict, embodied in Sharaa and Tlas, have not changed.
Another signal of defiance, and contrary to all expectations, the Ba'ath Party has remained predominant in the new government, holding 17 portfolios out of 30, and leaving 13 ministries to socialist allies and a few independents. Apart from the ministries of defence and foreign affairs, the posts of minister of finance, industry, interior, justice, culture, and information have all gone to Ba'athists. The new minister of finance, Dr Mohamed Al-Hussein, is a 44-year old economist who served as deputy prime minister in the previous cabinet, and is close to Assad. Al-Hussein is expected to play a pivotal role in the coming years, now that private banks are opening in Syria. The Ministry of Industry went to Mohamed Safi Abu Dan, former governor of Lattakia, and a member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party.
Other Ba'athists in the new cabinet include the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Dr Ghassan Al-Laham, who is the current governor of Damascus and former director of the Assad National Library; Minister of Education Mahmoud Al- Sayed, who was the former minister of education; and Minister of Expatriate Affairs Dr Buthaina Shaaban, who was the former foreign ministry spokeswoman. Her post was created by Assad in December 2001 in order to attract Syrian expatriates and encourage them to invest their know-how and wealth in the country's development.
Shaaban, a university professor with a degree in literature from Britain's Warwick University, is regarded favourably in Syria due to her reputation as a young, hard-working woman who has gone to great lengths to promote Syria's image in the West through interviews, lectures, and articles in reputed newspapers like the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times. Shaaban's appointment is also viewed as a deviance from the norm, where women are usually given the non-political posts of minister of culture and minister of social affairs. Her task in attracting expatriates to help in the development of their home country is seen as crucial in uniting the Syrian front in face of rising US and Israeli threats.
Perhaps the most notable newcomer to the government is Dr Hani Mourtada, an independent who was appointed as minister of higher education. He is the first independent to assume this post since the Ba'ath Party came to power in March 1963. A renowned pediatrician, he was a university professor for many years and became the president of Damascus University in 2000. Mourtada now has the monumental task of giving higher education in Syria a face-lift, especially now when private universities are opening and reforms are being implemented at the state-owned Damascus University. By authorising the opening of private schools and universities, instituting reforms in existing ones, and appointing Mourtada as minister, Assad is sending a signal that domestic change begins with education.
Two independent ministers who were re-appointed in the new government include Minister of Health Dr Iyad Al- Shatti, and Minister of Economy Dr Ghassan Al-Rifaii, a former senior official at the World Bank. The fact that political independents have been put in charge of the ministries of economy and higher education indicates that Syria plans to invest in and change both sectors, while keeping the Ba'ath Party's hallmark on others, most notably the Syrian army and foreign affairs.
