People's Party (Syria)
The People's Party ( Hizb al- Arab حزب الشعب damage ʿ b ) was a Syrian political party that was active during the 1940s and early 1960s in the Syrian Republic.
The party was founded in 1948 as the main opposition party, the National Party. Both parties have their roots in the Bloc National, a national alliance that has played an important role in the fight against the French mandate. The Bloc national seceded in 1947 as a result of regional and personal rivalries among its leaders.
History
Former national block members of the North Syrian cities ( Homs, Hama and Aleppo ) founded in 1948 the People's Party under the leadership Nazim al - Qudsis and Rushdi al - Kichyas. The party represented the interests of northern and central Syrian businessmen and landowners who favored an economic union with Iraq. It was supported by the Aleppo aristocracy, who believed that the traditional role of Aleppo could be restored as a trading center of the Fertile Crescent only by a federation with the Hashemite Iraq. The aim of the party was to break the dominance of the Damascene elite on the Syrian policy.
The People's Party also enjoyed the support of the Atassi clan of Homs; Adnan al - Atassi, son of President Hashim al - Atassi, was one of the founding fathers of the party. Although Hashim al - Atassi was never an official member, although he supported the party by his son and his nephew al - Atassi Faydi who repeatedly Ministry items, including received the State Department. Your support secured a strong base of the party in Homs.
The climax of influence enjoyed the party in the period 1949-1951 under the military regime of Sami al - Adib al- Shishakli and Hinnaui. After they received the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections in 1949, the party argued with al- Shishakli on the control of the police forces. Ash- Shishakli launched on November 28, 1951 a coup d'etat, and imprisoned leaders of the party, including party founder Nazim al - Qudsi and Rushdi al - Kichya; Hashim al - Atassi former president was placed under house arrest. The People's Party was one of the forces that ash- fall Schischaklis planned two years later. She received some of their influences back in the cabinet and won the majority of votes in the 1954 election.
As the Syrian Republic united with Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser to the United Arab Republic, the People's Party was like any other Syrian parties forced to dissolve. After the separation of Syria from the Union, the People's Party got back its parliamentary majority. The party leader Nazim al - Qudsi was after - Chosen victory in the parliamentary election in 1961 as president - this time nationwide. He served in that office until the Revolution of March 8, 1963, as brought the Baath Party by a coup to power.
In recent years there have been discussions about the revival of the People's Party after the requirements for membership in the National Progressive Front were relaxed, but this was not realized.
Bibliography
- David Dean Commins: Historical dictionary of Syria. Scarecrow Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4934-1.
- Sami M. Moubayed Damascus in between democracy and dictatorship. University Press of America, 2002.
- Yaacov Ro'i: From encroachment to involvement: a documentary study of Soviet policy in the Middle East, 1945-1973. Transaction Publishers, 1974, ISBN 978-0-470-73150-5.