In 1922, French authorities created the Syrian Federation under the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, with Subhi Barakat serving as its president. The federation was short-lived and was replaced by the State of Syria in 1925. Barakat briefly remained president until the outbreak of the Great Syrian Revolt later that year, which led to his resignation. He was succeeded by Ahmad Nami, who served as president until his removal in 1928. In the following years, the Syrian presidency underwent several changes in leadership, including a coup by Husni al-Za'im in March 1949, followed by another led by Adib Shishakli in 1951. Following the 1958 referendum, Syria joined the United Arab Republic, and its president Gamal Nasser, also became the Syrian president in the same referendum. This lasted for three years until the 1961 coup, when Syria restored its independence and the 1950 constitution.
After the fall of the Assad regime, a new interim constitution was implemented and remains in effect today. The interim constitution establishes Syria as a presidential system, with executive power vested in the president. The president's official residence is the Presidential Palace, located in the capital, Damascus. The position is currently held by Ahmed al-Sharaa in a transitional capacity since 29 January 2025.[a]
Following the 1958 referendum, Syria joined the United Arab Republic, and its president, Gamal Nasser, also became the Syrian president in the same referendum.[8] This lasted for three years until the 1961 coup, when Syria restored its independence and the 1950 constitution.[9]
Following the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, the first decision of the "Revolution Command Council," chaired by Lu'ay al-Atassi, was to suspend the provisional constitution of the United Arab Republic, arrest President Nazim al-Qudsi and Prime Minister Khalid al-Azm, and impose a state of emergency that lasted for 48 years until it was lifted in April 2011.[10] A new Provisional Constitution was adopted on 25 April 1964, which itself was replaced by the Provisional Constitution of 1 May 1969.[11]
On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, which led to a national crisis. Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the president of Syria must be a Muslim, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo.[12] The main objection to the constitution from demonstrators was that Islam was not specified as the state religion.[13] In response to riots, the Syrian Constitution of 1973 was amended to stipulate that Islam was the religion of the president.[13] The constitution has been amended twice. Article 6 was amended in 1981.[14]
After securing his control over the Syrian government, Assad initially chose his brother, Rifaat al-Assad, as his successor, but Rifaat's attempted power grab while Hafez was in a coma in 1984 led to his exile in Europe.[15] Following the incident, Bassel al-Assad was groomed to succeed his father.[16] Hafez's efforts to make Bassel the next president of Syria intensified in the early 1990s;[17] after Hafez's election victory in 1991 in an election where Hafez was the only candidate, the president was publicly referred to as "Abu Basil" (Father of Bassel).[18]
Shortly after Bassel died in a car accident in 1994, Bashar al-Assad was recalled to the Syrian Army. State propaganda soon began elevating Bashar's public image as "the hope of the masses" to prepare the public for a continuation of the rule of the Assad family.[19][20] Soon after the death of Bassel, Hafez al-Assad decided to make Bashar the new heir apparent.[21]
After the death of Hafez al-Assad on 10 June 2000, the Constitution was amended. The minimum age requirement for the presidency was lowered from 40 to 34, which was Bashar's age at the time.[22] A 9-member committee was founded, headed by Abdul Halim Khaddam, to oversee the transition period.[23] He was appointed by this committee as interim President of Syria on 10 June and was in consideration to be Assad's permanent successor, but instead helped Assad's son, Bashar.[24][25]
The sole candidate of the presidential referendum,[26] Bashar al-Assad was subsequently confirmed president on 10 July 2000,[27] with 97.29% support for his leadership.[28] On 17 July 2000, Assad became president, succeeding his father, Hafez.[29] In line with his role as President of Syria, he was also appointed the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party.[30] The existing personality cult portrays him as the "Young Leader" and the "Hope of the People."[31] Drawing influence from North Korea's hereditary leadership model,[32] official propaganda in Syria ascribed divine features to the Assad family, and reveres the Assad patriarchs as the founding fathers of modern Syria.[33]
A new constitution was approved in February 2012 after the start of the Syrian revolution.[34] A series of state elections were held every seven years which Assad won with overwhelming majority of votes. The elections are unanimously regarded by independent observers as a sham process and boycotted by the opposition.[b][c] The last two elections – held in 2014 and 2021 – were conducted only in areas controlled by the Syrian government during the country's ongoing civil war and condemned by the United Nations.[44][45][46]
The 2012 constitution ceased to be in effect after the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024 and was officially phased out on 29 January 2025.[47][48]
On 2 March, al-Sharaa declared the establishment of a committee tasked with drafting a constitutional declaration to guide the country's transition following the ousting of the Assad regime.[53] On 13 March, al-Sharaa signed an interim constitution for a transitional period of five years, enshrining Islamic law as a primary source of jurisprudence and promising to protect the rights of all Syria's ethnic and religious groups.[54] The Interim Constitution sets a presidential system with the executive power at the hands of the president who appoints the ministers,[55] without the position of prime minister.[56]
On 29 March, the Syrian transitional government was announced by al-Sharaa at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Damascus,[57] in which the new ministers were sworn in and delivered speeches outlining their agendas.[58] The government replaced the caretaker government, which was formed following the fall of the Assad regime.[59]
Appoint and dismiss heads of diplomatic missions abroad and receive the credentials of foreign diplomatic representatives in Syria
Propose laws, issue laws approved by the People's Assembly, and veto laws within one month of receipt. If the People's Assembly passes a veto law with a two-thirds majority, the president is required to enact it by decree.
In the event of a severe threat to national unity, sovereignty, or the proper functioning of state institutions, the president may:[60]
Impose a state of emergency, either fully or partially, for up to three months, after:
Securing approval from the National Security Council
Consulting with the speaker of the People's Assembly and the president of the Constitutional Court
Extend the state of emergency only with the approval of the People's Assembly
I swear by Almighty God to faithfully preserve the sovereignty of the State, the unity of the country, the integrity of its territories, and the independence of its decision, and to defend them, and to respect the law, protect the interests of the people, and strive with all sincerity and honesty to secure a decent life for them, achieve justice among them, and consolidate noble values and virtuous morals.
The Presidential Palace is the official residence of the President of Syria. It is located in the western part of Damascus, on Mount Mezzeh, just north of the Mezzeh neighborhood and next to Mount Qasioun, overlooking the city. The entire plateau of Mount Mezzeh is part of the palace compound, which is surrounded by a security wall and guard watchtowers. In front of the building is a large fountain, and the palace itself mostly consists of empty rooms clad in Carrara marble.[63][64] The Syrian caretaker government later started using the palace for diplomatic events.[65]
Before the construction of the new Presidential Palace on Mount Mazzeh in the early 1990s, Tishreen Palace served as the primary residence of the Assad family.[66] On 8 December 2024, during the fall of the Assad regime, anti-Assad forces took control of the palace.[67][68][69] After the regime fell, Syrians ransacked and looted the palace, inviting much of the public.[70][71][72]
Article 34 of the Interim Constitution states, "In the event of a vacancy in the presidency, the Vice President shall assume the powers of the President of the Republic.".[60]
^Before being appointed president, al-Sharaa served as the country's de facto leader as the emir of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, General Commander, and head of the New Syrian Administration from 8 December 2024, until 29 January 2025, when he was appointed President of Syria by the Syrian General Command
^Moubayed, Sami M. (2006). "Nami, Ahmad (1879-1960)". Steel & Silk: Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000. Cune Press. p. 299. ISBN978-1-885942-40-1.
^Haddad, Ghassan Mohammed Rashad (2007). The Political History of Syria: The Making of the Syrian Constitution (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar Al-Nahar. p. 78.
^Torrey, Gordon (1964). The Syrian Constitution of 1950: A Study in Constitutional Development. Oxford University Press. p. 223.
^Atassi, Karim, ed. (2018), "The Fourth Republic", Syria, the Strength of an Idea: The Constitutional Architectures of Its Political Regimes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 252–337, ISBN978-1-107-18360-5, retrieved 20 March 2025
^Alianak, Sonia (2007). Middle Eastern Leaders and Islam: A Precarious Equilibrium. Peter Lang. p. 55. ISBN978-0-8204-6924-9.
^Cook, Steven A. (December 1996). "On the Road: In Asad's Damascus". Middle East Quarterly: 39–43. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
^Pipes, Daniel (1995). Syria Beyond the Peace Process. Washington, D.C.: Washington Institute for Near East Policy. pp. 6, 7, 13–17. ISBN0-944029-64-7.
^Shamaileh, Ammar (2017). Trust and Terror: Social Capital and the Use of Terrorism as a Tool of Resistance. New York: Routledge. pp. 66, 70–72, 82. ISBN978-1-138-20173-6.
^Norris, Pippa; Martinez i Coma, Ferran; Grömping, Max (2015). "The Year in Elections, 2014". Election Integrity Project. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2020. The Syrian election ranked as worst among all the contests held during 2014.
Solomon, Christopher (2022). "1:Introduction". In Search of Greater Syria: The History and Politics of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN978-1-8386-0640-4.
Zisser, Eyal (2007). Commanding Syria: Bashar Al-Asad And the First Years in Power. I.B. Tauris. ISBN978-1-84511-153-3.
1 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the Europe–Asia border.
2 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the Africa–Asia border.