SYRIA:The president is seen as the only figure who can ensure the stability of Syria, caught between Iraq and Lebanon, writes Michael Jansen.
Syrians voted yesterday in a referendum to give their president, Bashar Assad, a second seven-year term and strengthen his standing in the country and region.
The 42-year-old former opthalmologist became president in 2000 after the death of his father, who had ruled Syria for 30 years.
Protesting against the sole candidature of Dr Assad, the Damascus Declaration opposition grouping boycotted the poll and called for the constitution to be changed to allow candidates from outside the ruling Baath party to stand for the presidency.
But abstention by the weak opposition did not dampen the enthusiasm of voters.
Last Thursday, an estimated 300,000 poured onto the streets of Damascus, the largest ever rally in the Syrian capital, to celebrate the entirely predictable outcome of the referendum. Popular excitement about the referendum contrasted sharply with widespread apathy during the recent parliamentary campaign.
A majority of the the country's 12 million voters were expected to cast their ballots in favour of a renewal of Dr Assad's mandate. He is seen as the only figure who can ensure the stability of Syria, caught between violent, anarchic Iraq and crisis-ridden Lebanon.
Soon after he came to power, Dr Assad promised widespread economic and political reforms and openness.
He introduced the internet and mobile phones. He liberalised banking laws and promoted Arab investment in the formerly closed Syrian economy.
He retired or fired veteran members of the Baath Party and promoted younger progressive members.
Dr Assad and his British-born wife, Asma, courted the public by going to restaurants and taking their children to public parks. He broke with tradition by appointing a non-Baathist, Abdullah Dardari, as deputy prime minister. Dr Dardari was charged with making the transition from a centrally controlled socialist economy to a free market economy with a social conscience that would not leave the poor without a safety net.
Dr Assad has, however, been unable to meet his promise for the sort of rapid political change Syrians had hoped to see.
He cracked down on political activists operating outside the Baathist ambit during the "Damascus Spring" of 2001, jailing several of the regime's most vociferous critics that summer. Over the last year half a dozen opposition figures have been imprisoned.
Dr Assad has also faced US criticism over his support for Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas. He has repeatedly denied that Syria is assisting fundamentalist fighters to cross into Iraq to fight US troops and that Damascus was involved in the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik al-Hariri. But he has been unable to disprove these charges.
However, Dr Assad's fortunes have taken a turn for the better in recent months. In an attempt to enlist Syria's help in quelling the insurgency in Iraq, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice defrosted US-Syrian relations by meeting foreign minister Walid Muallem during a recent conference in Egypt.
Israel, humiliated by its poor showing during last summer's war against Syria's Lebanese ally, Hizbullah, and unwilling to negotiate with the Palestinians, is also showing interest in resuming talks with Damascus over the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in 1967.