elections: last held 30 November-1 December 1998 (next to be held NA 2002)
election results: percent of vote by party - NPF 67%, non-NPF 33%; seats by party - NPF 167, independents 83; note - the constitution guarantees that the Ba'th Party (part of the NPF alliance) receive one-half of the seats
Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court (justices are appointed for four-year terms by the president); High Judicial Council; Court of Cassation; State Security Courts
Political parties and leaders: National Progressive Front or NPF
(includes the Ba'th Party, ASU, Arab Socialist Party, Socialist
Unionist Democratic Party, ASP, SCP) [President Bashar al-ASAD];
Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party (governing party) [Bashar
al-ASAD, secretary general of the party, and chairman of the
National Progressive Front after the death of Hafiz al-ASAD on 10
June 2000]; Arab Socialist Unionist Movement or ASU [Sami SOUFAN];
Arab Socialist Party [Abd al-Ghani KANNUT]; Socialist Unionist
Democratic Party [Ahmad al-ASAD]; Syrian Arab Socialist Party or ASP
[Safwan KOUDSI]; Syrian Communist Party or SCP [Yusuf FAYSAL]
Political pressure groups and leaders: conservative religious leaders; Muslim Brotherhood (operates in exile in Jordan and Yemen); non-Ba'th parties have little effective political influence
International organization participation: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF,
CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA,
IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC,
ISO, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WMO, WToO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Rustum al-ZU'BI
chancery: 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 232-6313