Syria urged to adopt parties law to rebuild politics, curb communalism

Nearly 18 months after the country's liberation and the fall of the previous regime, Syria still lacks a law to regulate political parties and organize formal political life. The absence of such a framework has left a vacuum that communal ties—family, tribe, region and sect—have filled, eroding individual political choice and risking deeper fragmentation. The article argues that a political parties law is an urgent foundational step to develop an internal national opposition, create organized political blocs, and stage a gradual transition through municipal, provincial and then parliamentary and presidential contests. It notes that the incoming People’s Assembly will likely be composed of independent figures without unified programs, limiting parliament’s effectiveness until parties and blocs emerge.

The author stresses that the parties law must include safeguards to bar groups that reject equal citizenship, deny Syria as a final homeland, or promote hate speech, while ensuring a level playing field for all political actors. Key questions remain about the transitional authorities’ neutrality and whether influential figures will form competing parties; the piece also calls for insulating the military, security services and judiciary from partisan conflict to avoid repeating past militarization of politics. Emphasizing that democracy is a long process, the article urges the transitional government to begin laying institutional groundwork now rather than postpone it—an argument framed as necessary preparation for eventual democratic development as reported by The Syrian Observer