National Progressive Front
الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية
PresidentBashar al-Assad
Vice-PresidentMohammad al-Shaar[1]
FounderHafez al-Assad
Founded1972 (1972)
HeadquartersDamascus
IdeologyPro-Syrian government
Arab nationalism
Arab socialism
Pan-Arabism
Secularism
Anti-Zionism
Factions:
Political positionFactions:
Left-wing to far-left
People's Council
183 / 250
Council of Ministers
20 / 35
Website
pnf.org.sy

The National Progressive Front (Arabic: الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية, al-Jabha al-Waṭaniyyah al-Taqaddumiyyah, NPF) is a pro-government coalition of left-wing parties in Syria that supports the Arab nationalist and Arab socialist orientation of the government and accepts the "leading role" of the ruling Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. The coalition was formed on the basis of the Popular Front model of Socialist Bloc, through which Syrian Ba'ath party governs the country by permitting nominal participation of smaller, satellite parties. The NPF is part of Ba'ath Party's efforts to expand its support base and neutralize prospects for any sustainable liberal or left-wing opposition, by instigating splits within independent leftist parties or repressing them.[lower-alpha 1]

NPF model has been instrumentalized by the Ba'athist system to enforce a highly centralized Presidential system.[7] The satellite parties within the NPF have smaller political power and largely function as networks for mobilizing loyalty to the government. Student activism and political activities in armed forces are strictly prohibited for non-Ba'athist parties in the NPF, amongst other restrictions.[8][9]

History

The Front was established in 1972 by Syrian president Hafez al-Assad to provide for a limited degree of participation in government by political parties other than the ruling Ba'ath Party.[10] While NPF has little influence in central bodies such as the People's Assembly, it was given more say at the local level, where non-Ba'athists and independent candidates are fielded. While the Ba'ath Party controls vast majority of votes in the central committees, a number of seats in the local are allotted for members of other NPF parties and independents. These minor parties are legally required to accept the leadership of the Ba'ath Party. The non-Ba'athist parties in the Progressive Front, for example, are not allowed to canvass for supporters in the army or the student body which are "reserved exclusively for the Ba'ath."[11]

From 1972 to 2011, only parties participating in the NPF had been legally permitted to operate in Syria. The Legislative Decree on Parties law of 2011,[12] Legislative Decree on General Elections Law of 2011[13] and the new Syrian constitution of 2012[14] introduced multi-party system in Syria.

After previously being a part of NPF, Syrian Social Nationalist Party joined the opposition, Popular Front for Change and Liberation, for the May 2012 election to the parliament. However, the SSNP supported the re-election of Bashar al-Assad in the June 2014 presidential election and subsequently rejoined the front.[15]

Constituent parties

The NPF is currently composed of the following political parties:

Party Leader Ideology People's Assembly Government
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party[16] Bashar al-Assad Neo-Ba'athism
Pan-Arabism
167 / 250
 government
Syrian Social Nationalist Party[16] Fares al-Saad Syrian nationalism
Secularism
3 / 250
 government
Arab Socialist Union Party[16] Safwan al-Qudsi Nasserism
Arab nationalism
3 / 250
 government
Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash)[16] Ammar Bakdash Communism
Marxism–Leninism
3 / 250
 government
Socialist Unionist Party[16] Shaaban Shaheen[17] Nasserism
Arab socialism
2 / 250
 government
Syrian Communist Party (Unified)[16] Hanin Nimir Communism
2 / 250
 government
National Covenant Party[16]
 Ghassan Othman Pan-Arabism
2 / 250
 government
Arab Democratic Union Party[16] Iyad Ghassan Osman Nasserism
Arab nationalism
1 / 250
 government
Democratic Socialist Unionist Party[16] Fadlallah Nasreddine Nasserism
Arab socialism
Trade unionism
1 / 250
 government
Arab Socialist Movement[18] Omar Adnan al-Alawi Neo-Ba'athism
Arab socialism
0 / 250
 external support
Associated organisations
General Federation of Trade Unions[16] Yassin Tulaimat Trade unionism
Workers' rights
0 / 250
 external support
General Union of Peasants[16] Ahmed Saleh Ibrahim Trade unionism
Agrarianism
0 / 250
 external support
Revolutionary Youth Union[19] Maan Abboud Neo-Ba'athism
Youth activism
0 / 250
 external support

Electoral history

Syrian People's Assembly elections

Election Seats +/– Position
1973
186 / 186
 Increase 186 Increase 1st
1977
195 / 195
 Increase 9 Steady 1st
1981
195 / 195
 Steady Steady 1st
1986
195 / 195
 Steady Steady 1st
1990
250 / 250
 Increase 55 Steady 1st
1994
250 / 250
 Steady Steady 1st
1998
250 / 250
 Steady Steady 1st
2003
250 / 250
 Steady Steady 1st
2007
250 / 250
 Steady Steady 1st
2012
168 / 250
 Decrease 82 Steady 1st
2016
200 / 250
 Increase 32 Steady 1st
2020
183 / 250
 Decrease 17 Steady 1st

See also

References

  1. ↑ "الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية". pnf.org.sy. Mohannad Orfali-.
  2. ↑ "Is Syria socialist? 2022 Guide". Young Pioneer Tours. 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
  3. ↑ Al Hajj-Saleh, Yassîn (1 October 2018). "L'opposition syrienne". Archived from the original on 28 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Seale, Patrick (1989). "19: The Enemy Within". Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. Los Angeles, USA: University of California Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 0-520-06667-7.
  5. ↑ Taha, Zakaria (2012). The Kurdish opposition and the Baath regime in Syria: between identity dynamics and cooptation strategies. HAL SHS. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023.
  6. ↑ Batatu, Hanna (1999). Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Princeton University Press. pp. 121, 274, 275. ISBN 0-691-00254-1.
  7. ↑ Leverett, Flynt (2005). "Chapter Two: Hafiz's Legacy, Bashar's Inheritance". Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036: Brookings Institution Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-8157-5204-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. ↑ Batatu, Hanna (1999). "13: The Post-1970 Asad-molded, Career-oriented Ba'ath". Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Princeton University Press. p. 187. ISBN 0-691-00254-1.
  9. ↑ Seale, Patrick (1989). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. Los Angeles, USA: University of California Press. p. 176. ISBN 0-520-06667-7.
  10. ↑ Elizabeth O'Bagy (7 June 2012). "Syria's Political Struggle: Spring 2012" (Backgrounder). ISW. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Seale, Patrick, Asad, the Struggle for the Middle East, University of California Press, 1989, p. 176
  12. ↑ "Syrian Arab news agency - SANA - Syria : Syria news ::". Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  13. ↑ "Syrian Arab news agency - SANA - Syria : Syria news ::". Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  14. ↑ "SANA Syrian News Agency - Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic Approved in Popular Referendum on February 27, 2012, Article 8". Archived from the original on October 14, 2012.
  15. ↑ "SSNP Supports Bashar al-Assad's Presidential Nomination". 7 May 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Orfali, Mohannad. "الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية". pnf.org.sy.
  17. ↑ Orfali, Mohannad. "حزب الوحدويين الاشتراكيين". pnf.org.sy.
  18. ↑ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad. "Quwat Muqatili al-Asha'ir: Tribal Auxiliary Forces of the Military Intelligence". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.
  19. ↑ "الهيئة العامة للإذاعة والتلفزيون - سورية". Archived from the original on 2019-09-06. Retrieved 2019-08-30.

Notes

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