Arab Socialist Union Party (Syria)

This article is about the ASU in Syria. For sister parties in other Arab states, see Arab Socialist Union.

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Political party in Syria

Arab Socialist Union Party of Syria

حزب الاتحاد الاشتراكي العربي في سورية

Leader| Safwan al-Qudsi
Founded| 1973
Headquarters| Damascus, Syria
Ideology| Arab nationalism
Arab socialism
Nasserism
Pan-Arabism
Left-wing nationalism
Political position| Left-wing
National affiliation| National Progressive Front
People's Assembly|

3 / 250

Website
http://asuparty.org/

* Politics of Syria
* Political parties
* Elections

The Arab Socialist Union Party of Syria (Arabic: حزب الاتحاد الاشتراكي العربي في سورية Hizb Al-Ittihad Al-Ishtiraki Al-'Arabi fi Suriyah) (ASU) is a Nasserist political party in Syria. ASU was led by Safwan al-Qudsi. The party was formed in 1973, following a split from the original ASU.

At the last legislative elections, 2007, the ASU was part of the National Progressive Front (Al-Jabhat Al-Wataniah Al-Taqaddumiyyah). the ASU was awarded 8 out of the 250 seats. The NPF is led by the Ba'ath Party.

## History[edit]

### Background: Arab Socialism in Syria[edit]

Non-Nasserite Arab socialism in Syria has its origins in the Arab Socialist Party (ASP; also ASM, for Arab Socialist Movement). This party grew out of Syria's Hizb al-Shabab (Youth Party). In 1950, Akram al-Hawrani took over leadership of the party and changed its name to the Arab Socialist Party. After initial successes, the ASP was banned by Syria's de facto leader, Adib ash-Shishakli, in 1952, as he considered it to be too powerful a political rival. Akram al-Hawrani went into exile in Lebanon, and there agreed on a merger with a nationalist and pan-Arabist opposition party, the Arab Ba'ath Party. The new party was called the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.

In 1959, the Syrian section of the Baath Party dissolved to leave room for the National Union, which was the only legal party within the United Arab Republic (a Syria-Egypt merger under Gamal Abdel Nasser's leadership). However, dissent over the union grew, and another conference, a year later, reversed the party's decision. When the UAR dissolved in 1961, the Baath Party struggled to reform its Syrian branch, but several groups broke away, including a Nasserist and pro-unionist tendency (which formed the Socialist Unionists, (SU)) and a strongly anti-Nasserist current under Akram al-Hawrani, who recreated his former ASP. Meanwhile, several other Nasserite and pro-Egyptian factions worked in opposition to the "separatist" government and demanded renewed union with Egypt.

### Formation as opposition[edit]

In 1964, these Syrian Nasserist parties and organizations (including the SUP, the Movement of Arab Nationalists, the United Arab Front and the Socialist Union) created a Syrian branch of the Egyptian-led Arab Socialist Union, which—after a Nasserite coup attempt in the Spring of 1963—was in militant opposition to Syria's Baath-led government. The organization was led by exiles in Cairo, and remained weakly organized in Syria despite considerable popular support, due to restrictions imposed by the Baathists. It quickly fragmented, with a faction of the former SU under Faiz Ismail removing itself from the ASU. The Arab Nationalist Movement also continued to work in their separate organizational structures in Syria, despite being formally committed to Nasser's order to unite in the ASU; much of this organization later dissolved into different political groups, including the ASU and the Palestinian PFLP and DFLP factions.

### Legalization and split[edit]

After Hafez al-Assad took power in 1970, the ASU entered into negotiations about a coalition government, and agreed to join the National Progressive Front (NPF) in 1972. The year after, however, the party split over the adoption of a Syrian constitution in which the Baath was proclaimed the "leading party" of the country. One minor faction under Fawzi Kiyali accepted the constitution, and retained both the ASU name and the NPF membership, while most members followed party leader Jamal al-Atassi into opposition, by renaming themselves the Democratic Arab Socialist Union. Both ASU (Syria) and DASU distanced themselves from Anwar Sadat's government, particularly after his policies towards Israel became more conciliatory, and their close relations with Cairo were lost before the Egyptian mother party itself dissolved in the mid-1970s.

### ASU and DASU today[edit]

The Arab Socialist Union Party of Syria (i.e., the ex-Kiyali faction), which glorifies the Baath presidency and shows virtually no independence from the government, has long been led by Safwan al-Qudsi. In the 2003 legislative elections, the NPF bloc was awarded 167 out of 250 seats in the Syrian parliament, and of these seven belonged to the ASU. In the 2007 elections, the party was awarded 8 out of 250 seats in the parliament, making it formally the second-largest party after the Baath itself. This does not reflect popular support for the party, however, since the NPF runs on uncontested lists; on these, the Baath always holds a majority both inside the NPF and inside the parliament, while other member parties negotiate with the government for their share of candidates.

Since the death of al-Atassi, the DASU has been led by Hassan Abdelazim. It remains an illegal party and has been subject to sporadic repression; although it became semi-openly active after the accession of Bashar al-Assad to power in 2000, and under the limited liberalization that followed. The DASU is the leading member of the National Democratic Gathering, a nationalist-leftist opposition alliance founded in 1979.

## Parliamentary elections[edit]

People's Council of Syria

Election year  | # of
overall seats won  | ±
2007 |

8 / 250

2012 |

2 / 250

| 6
2016 |

2 / 250

2020 |

3 / 250

| 1

## See also[edit]

* Category:Arab Socialist Union Party (Syria) politicians

## External links[edit]

* Syrian ASU Party website (in Arabic)

* v
* t
* e

Political parties in Syria

National Progressive Front|

* Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
* pan-Arab organization) (167
* Syrian Social Nationalist Party (3)
* Arab Socialist Union Party (3)
* Socialist Unionist Party (2)
* Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash) (3)
* Syrian Communist Party (Unified) (2)
* National Covenant Party (2)
* Arab Democratic Union Party (1)
* Democratic Socialist Unionist Party (1)
* Social Democratic Unionists (0)
* Arab Socialist Movement (0)

Popular Front for Change and Liberation|

* People's Will Party (0)

Unrepresented|

* Democratic People's Party
* Syrian Turkmen Assembly
* Syrian Turkmen Bloc
* Syrian Democratic Turkmen Movement
* Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party
* Arab Revolutionary Workers Party
* Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria
* Syriac Union Party
* Democratic Arab Socialist Union
* Movement for Justice and Development in Syria
* Democratic Union Party
* National Youth Party
* Kurdish Future Movement
* Kurdish National Alliance in Syria
* Reform Party of Syria

Defunct parties|

* National Bloc
* National Party
* National Union
* People's Party
* League of Nationalist Action
* Arab National Party
* Arab Ba'ath Party
* Arab Ba'ath Movement
* Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party
* Syrian Communist Party
* Arab Liberation Movement
* Socialist Cooperation Party
* Arab Communist Party
* Communist Labour Party
* Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)

Banned Islamist parties|

* Hizb ut-Tahrir
* Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

Kurdish parties|

* Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria
* Democratic Union Party
* Kurdish National Council
* Kurdish Supreme Committee
* Kurdish Future Movement
* Kurdish National Alliance in Syria
* Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party

Assyrian parties|

* Assyrian Democratic Organization
* Syriac Union Party
* Assyrian Democratic Party

* Portal:Politics
* List of political parties
* Politics of Syria

* v
* t
* e

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party

* Iraqi-dominated faction
* Syrian-dominated faction

History

| Predecessors|

* Arab Ba'ath
* Arab Ba'ath Movement
* Arab Socialist Movement
* Syrian Committee to Help Iraq

|

Founders|

* Michel Aflaq
* Salah al-Din al-Bitar

Pre-split|

* 1954 Syrian coup d'état
* 14 July Revolution
* 1959 Mosul uprising
* Ramadan Revolution
* 1963 Syrian coup d'état
* National Council for the Revolutionary Command
* Ar-Rashid revolt
* November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état
* 1964 Hama riot
* 1966 Syrian coup d'état

Post-split|

* 17 July Revolution
* Ba'athist Iraq
* Revolutionary Command Council
* Members
* Arab Belt
* Corrective Movement
* Union of Arab Republics
* Ba'athist Arabization campaigns in northern Iraq
* 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge
* Faith Campaign
* Iraqi conflict
* De-Ba'athification
* Syrian civil war

Leadership

| General Secretaries|

| Pre-split|

* Michel Aflaq
* Munif Razzaz

|

Iraqi-dominated faction|

* Michel Aflaq
* Saddam Hussein
* Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
* Salah Al-Mukhtar*

Syrian-dominated faction|

* Nureddin al-Atassi
* Hafiz al-Assad
* Abdullah al-Ahmar (de facto)
* Bashar al-Assad*

Regional Secretaries|

| Iraq|

* Fuad al-Rikabi
* Talib El-Shibib
* Ali Salih al-Sa'di
* Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
* Saddam Hussein
* Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
* Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed*

|

Jordan|

* Abdullah Rimawi
* Munif Razzaz
* Akram al-Homsi*

Lebanon|

* Assem Qanso
* Abd al-Majid al-Rafei

Palestine|

* Isam al-Qadi
* Rakad Salem*

Syria|

* Hammud al-Shufi
* Shibli al-Aysami
* Amin al-Hafiz
* Nureddin al-Atassi
* Hafiz al-Assad
* Bashar al-Assad*

Members of the National Command|

* Michel Aflaq
* Abdullah al-Ahmar
* Zaki al-Arsuzi
* Bashar al-Assad
* Hafiz al-Assad
* Nureddin al-Atassi
* Mansur al-Atrash
* Shibli al-Aysami
* Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
* Salah al-Din al-Bitar
* Elias Farah
* Wahib al-Ghanim
* Amin al-Hafiz
* Akram al-Hawrani
* Salah Jadid
* Zuheir Mohsen
* Munif Razzaz
* Fuad al-Rikabi
* Abdullah Rimawi
* Ali Salih al-Sa'di
* Talib El-Shibib
* Khaled Yashruti

Members of the Regional Commands|

| Iraq|

* Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur
* Muhammad Zimam Abd Al-Razzaq
* Ghanim Abdul-Jalil
* Saad Abdul-Majid
* Jamal Mustafa Abdullah
* Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed
* Salah Omar al-Ali
* Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash
* Salih Mahdi Ammash
* Hussein Al-Awadi
* Tariq Aziz
* Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
* Adil Abdullah Mahdi Al-Douri
* Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
* Saadoun Ghaidan
* Sa'dun Hammadi
* Qusay Hussein
* Saddam Hussein
* Latif Nassif Jassim
* Rashid Taan Kazim
* Adnan Khairallah
* Ali Hassan al-Majid
* Muhyi Abdul-Hussein Mashhadi
* Aziz Saleh Al-Numan
* Ghazi Hamoud Al-Obaidi
* Taha Yassin Ramadan
* Fawzi Mutlaq al-Rawi
* Fuad al-Rikabi
* Ali Salih al-Sa'di
* Abd al-Khaliq al-Samarra'i
* Abdullah Sallum al-Samarra'i
* Talib El-Shibib
* Nayef Shindakh Thamir
* Khamis Sirhan
* Hardan al-Tikriti
* Yahya Abdallah al-Ubaydi
* Tahir Yahya
* Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi

|

Syria|

* Abdullah al-Ahmar
* Hussein Arnous
* Bashar al-Assad
* Hafiz al-Assad
* Nureddin al-Atassi
* Shibli al-Aysami
* Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan
* Muhsen Bilal
* Mahdi Dakhlallah
* Ahmad Diyab
* Fahd Jassem al-Freij
* Marwan Habash
* Amin al-Hafiz
* Muhammad Ali al-Halabi
* Wael Nader al-Halqi
* Salim Hatum
* Hilal Hilal
* Mohammad al-Hussein
* Hisham Ikhtiyar
* Salah Jadid
* Abd al-Karim al-Jundi
* Sami al-Jundi
* Abdul Rauf al-Kasm
* Abdul Halim Khaddam
* Imad Khamis
* Ahmad al-Khatib
* Abdul Rahman Khleifawi
* Mohammad Jihad al-Laham
* Ibrahim Makhous
* Zuhair Masharqa
* Muhammad Mustafa Mero
* Muhammad Naji al-Otari
* Abd al-Qadir Qaddura
* Hammouda Sabbagh
* Farouk al-Sharaa
* Hikmat al-Shihabi
* Hammud al-Shufi
* Mustafa Tlass
* Hasan Turkmani
* Muhammad Umran
* Salim Yasin
* Yusuf Zuayyin

Yemen|

Ali Ahmad Nasser al-Dhahab

Heads of state|

| Iraq|

* Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
* Saddam Hussein

|

Syria|

* Amin al-Hafiz
* Nureddin al-Atassi
* Ahmad al-Khatib
* Hafiz al-Assad
* Abdul Halim Khaddam (interim)
* Bashar al-Assad*

Heads of government|

| Iraq|

* Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
* Saddam Hussein
* Sa'dun Hammadi
* Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi
* Ahmad Husayn Khudayir as-Samarrai

|

Syria|

* Salah al-Din al-Bitar
* Amin al-Hafiz
* Yusuf Zuayyin
* Nureddin al-Atassi
* Hafiz al-Assad
* Abdul Rahman Khleifawi
* Mahmoud al-Ayyubi
* Muhammad Ali al-Halabi
* Abdul Rauf al-Kasm
* Mahmoud Al-Zoubi
* Muhammad Mustafa Mero
* Muhammad Naji al-Otari
* Adel Safar
* Riyad Farid Hijab
* Omar Ibrahim Ghalawanji
* Wael Nader al-Halqi
* Imad Khamis
* Hussein Arnous*

* = incumbent

Organization

| Regional branches|

| Iraqi-dominated faction|

* Algeria
* Bahrain
* Egypt
* Iraq
* Regional Command
* Jordan
* Lebanon
* Libya
* Mauritania
* Palestine
* Sudan
* Tunisia
* Yemen

|

Syrian-dominated faction|

* Jordan
* Lebanon
* Mauritania
* Palestine
* South Yemen
* Sudan
* Syria
* Central Command
* History
* National Security Bureau
* Yemen

Newspapers|

* Al-Ba'ath
* Sawt al-Jamahir
* Al-Thawra

Popular fronts|

* National Progressive Front (Iraq)
* National Progressive Front (Syria)

Wings|

| Paramilitary|

* Ba'ath Brigades
* Fedayeen Saddam
* National Defense Battalions
* Popular Army

|

Youth|

* Revolutionary Youth Union

Associated organizations

| Armed groups|

* Al-Abud Network
* Al-Awda
* Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order
* Free Iraqi Army
* General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries
* Jeish Muhammad
* Rejectionists
* Snake Party
* Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation

|

Breakaway groups|

* Arab Revolutionary Workers Party
* Arab Socialist Movement
* Damascus branch
* Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party
* Arabic Toilers' Movement
* Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party
* Palestinian Arab Front
* Socialist Lebanon
* Sudanese Ba'ath Party

Political alliances|

| Current|

* Alliance of Palestinian Forces
* Forces of Freedom and Change
* March 8 Alliance
* National Consensus Forces
* National Democratic Alliance
* Palestine Liberation Organization
* Palestinian National and Islamic Forces

|

Former|

* Ahd Bloc
* Front of Patriotic and National Parties
* Lebanese National Movement
* Lebanese National Resistance Front
* National Alliance for the Liberation of Syria
* National Union Front
* Palestinian National Alliance
* Palestinian National Salvation Front
* Rejectionist Front

Political parties|

* Arab Socialist Union Party
* Arab Democratic Union Party
* Democratic Socialist Unionist Party
* Kurdistan Revolutionary Party
* Libyan National Movement
* National Covenant Party
* Popular Unity Party
* Sawab
* Social Democratic Unionists
* Socialist Democratic Unionist Party
* Socialist Unionist Party
* Syrian Communist Party
* Bakdash
* Unified
* Syrian Social Nationalist Party
* in Lebanon

Other organizations|

* General Federation of Trade Unions
* General Union of Peasants
* General Union of Syrian Women

Miscellaneous

| Ideology|

* Anti-imperialism
* Anti-Zionism
* Arab nationalism
* Arab socialism
* Ba'athism
* Pan-Arabism
* Progressivism
* Republicanism
* Secularism
* Vanguardism

|

Literature|

* The Battle for One Destiny
* On the Way of Resurrection

Symbolism|

* Arḍ ul-Furātayn
* Pan-Arab colors

* v
* t
* e

Arab nationalism

Ideology|

* Arab socialism
* Ba'athism
* Nasserism
* Pan-Arabism
* Third International Theory

History|

* Arab Revolt
* Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine
* 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
* Iraqi Revolt
* Arab separatism in Khuzestan
* 1979 Khuzestan insurgency
* Great Syrian Revolt
* 1941 Iraqi coup d'état
* Anglo-Iraqi War
* Arab–Israeli conflict
* Suez Crisis
* Six-Day War
* War of Attrition
* Yom Kippur War
* Israeli–Palestinian conflict
* 1952 Egyptian Revolution
* Iraqi Intifada
* Algerian War
* 14 July Revolution
* 1959 Mosul uprising
* 1961 Syrian coup d'état
* Arab Cold War
* North Yemen Civil War
* Ramadan Revolution
* 1963 Syrian coup d'état
* Dhofar War
* November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état
* Aden Emergency
* 1966 Syrian coup d'état
* 17 July Revolution
* 1969 Sudanese coup d'état
* 1969 Libyan revolution
* Black September
* Lebanese Civil War
* Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict

Concepts|

* Arab identity
* Arab Union
* Arab world
* Arabization

Personalities|

* Butrus al-Bustani
* Michel Aflaq
* Jassem Alwan
* Yasser Arafat
* Abdul Rahman Arif
* Abdul Salam Arif
* Zaki al-Arsuzi
* Bashar al-Assad
* Hafiz al-Assad
* Jamal al-Atassi
* Mansur al-Atrash
* Sultan al-Atrash
* Tariq Aziz
* Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
* Ahmed Ben Bella
* Salah al-Din al-Bitar
* Izzat Darwaza
* Faisal I of Iraq
* Muammar Gaddafi
* Rashid Ali al-Gaylani
* George Habash
* Sati' al-Husri
* Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz
* Saddam Hussein
* Amin al-Husseini
* Salah Jadid
* Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi
* Mostéfa Merarda
* Gamal Abdel Nasser
* Adnan Pachachi
* Ameen Rihani
* Fuad al-Rikabi
* Abdullah Rimawi
* Hamdeen Sabahi
* Constantin Zureiq

Organizations|

* Al-Awda
* Al-Fatat
* Al-Mourabitoun
* Arab Ba'ath
* Arab Ba'ath Movement
* Arab Federation
* Arab Higher Committee
* Arab Islamic Republic
* Arab Liberation Army
* Arab Nationalist Movement
* Arab Socialist Action Party
* Arab Socialist Union (Egypt)
* Arab Socialist Union (Iraq)
* Arab Socialist Union (Libya)
* Arab Socialist Union Party (Syria)
* Arabian Peninsula People's Union
* Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order
* Ba'ath Party
* Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)
* Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction)
* Fatah
* Federation of Arab Republics
* General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries
* Independence Party (Mandatory Palestine)
* Islamic Legion
* Lebanese National Movement
* National Liberation Front (Algeria)
* Palestine Liberation Organization
* Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
* Rejectionist Front
* Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation
* Unified Political Command
* Union of Arab Republics (1972)
* United Arab Republic
* United Arab States

Literature|

* The Arab Awakening
* The Battle for One Destiny
* On the Way of Resurrection

Symbolism|

* Coat of arms of the United Arab Republic
* Eagle of Saladin
* Flag of the Arab Federation
* Flag of the Arab Revolt
* Hawk of Quraish
* Pan-Arab colors

Related topics|

* Algerian nationalism
* Egyptian nationalism
* Greater Mauritania
* Greater Morocco
* Greater Syria
* Greater Yemen
* Iraqi nationalism
* Islamism
* Jordanian nationalism
* Lebanese nationalism
* Libyan nationalism
* Palestinian nationalism
* Pan-Islamism
* Sahrawi nationalism
* Syrian nationalism
* Tunisian nationalism

* Category

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