Syrians vote for a sense of security

President Bashar Assad quashes dissent, opens the economy, and wins Sunday's referendum for another seven-year term.

By Hugh Naylor | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

from the May 29, 2007 edition

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DAMASCUS - Tens of thousands gathered in here Umayyad Circle Sunday evening to celebrate the certain victory of President Bashar Assad in his second referendum as president of Syria.

Mr. Assad was the only candidate on the ballot. Nonetheless, the vote represents a real consolidation of power for the 41-year old former eye doctor, who was once seen as a political reformer. In fact, since Assad took over from his autocratic father, Hafiz, in 2000, he has taken a similar path.

"Seven years after taking power from his father, he's the strongman for sure," says Marwan Kabalan, an analyst at the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Damascus. "His strategy was to buy as much time as he could to outlast his enemies – and it's worked. He outlasted [French President] Jacques Chirac and he'll certainly outlast President Bush.

Officials who once challenged his authority have been replaced with loyalists. Pro-democracy advocates have been silenced by the government, and largely overlooked by a population that sees the sectarian violence in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon as the fruits of democracy.

"If I had to choose between elections and democracy and President Assad, I'd choose Assad right now," says one former political dissident, who asked to remain anonymous.

Assad has also won support at home, say analysts, from his defiant stance toward the Bush administration's deeply unpopular policies in the region and for bringing in much-needed economic reforms.

After the Iraq invasion of March 2003, there were serious concerns here that Damascus was next on the American military's radar.

The Bush Administration slapped limited economic sanctions on Syria in 2004 for its support of militant groups like Hizbullah and Hamas.

Under heavy pressure from the United States and France following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, which UN investigators suspect Damascus of perpetrating, Syrian troops were forced to withdraw their 29-year presence from Lebanon.

The pullout was a huge embarrassment for Assad. But over the last several months, Washington's efforts at isolating Assad have been mixed with a new diplomatic initiative as the US seeks help in tamping down Iraq's civil war. Syria is widely believed to be funneling Sunni militants into Iraq.

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