Baath Party Told to Focus on Economy

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R)

DAMASCUS, Syria -Syrian President Bashar Assad opened a conference of the ruling Baath Party by urging its members to reform the economy and fight corruption.

&#34The economic situation and improving living standards represent a priority for us,&#34 Assad told the gathering, adding that corruption is a &#34social and moral problem.&#34

Speaking to some 1,150 delegates elected by the party”s 2 million members, Assad said the conference &#34should push the reform process forward to respond to the majority of people,&#34 said Assad.

The 10th Baath Party congress convened while Syria is under increasing international scrutiny. Syrian officials have denied they would be influenced by such pressure.

Minister of Emigrants Affairs Buthaina Shaaban, who is also spokeswoman for the conference, said any new initiatives would stem from &#34our responsibility toward our country and people.&#34

The Syria Times said Monday the conference had raised expectations of new initiatives to &#34address economic problems, to untangle the knot of bureaucratic regulations that effectively strangles business and to introduce far-reaching democratic and political reforms.&#34

&#34Recent events have showed how much it is pertinent and necessary to review old practices and to draw a vision for the future,&#34 the state-run paper said in an editorial.

Last week Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa forecast the congress would &#34give a new boost to the reform and modernization process.&#34

The last congress of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, as it is officially known here, was held in 2000 when it unanimously elected Assad as secretary-general following the death of his father, the late President Hafez Assad.

The congress comes at a crucial time for Syria. The country, already under U.S. sanctions for its alleged role in fueling the Iraqi insurgency next door, is still reeling from its April withdrawal from Lebanon, ending a 29-year-military presence in its tiny neighbor.

Syria was forced to pull out its troops after the Feb. 14 assassination in Beirut of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an event the Lebanese opposition blamed on Damascus. Syria has denied the charge.

The Syrian leadership also faces a long list of demands from the international community at home, where pro-democracy activists are increasingly seeking more freedoms. Analysts say Assad is likely to seek a middle way, easing some of the pressure by seeming flexible while maintaining a firm grip on the country.

At the conference, the party is expected to open the way for the participation of other parties — as long as they are secular — endorse free-market reforms to the state-run economy, loosen central control and perhaps make amendments to the emergency law in force since 1963.

Syrian opposition figures have said they do not expect much from the congress. Haitham Maleh, head of the Human Rights Association in Syria, said he did not foresee &#34radical changes,&#34 adding the conference was aimed mainly at enhancing Syria”s image abroad.

Founded in the 1940s and with chapters in several Arab states, the Baath party boasts a membership of 2 million Syrians, whose ties to the party have long been a means of ensuring progress in the workplace or attaining coveted jobs.