Syria to Register New Political Parties

Damascus, Nov 21. -As part of Syria´s reform process, the recently created Political Affairs Committee began to assess the requests for the creation of new parties, according to the new law enacted for that purpose.The panel informed the press its decision of making public two requests and of providing daily reports on its work.

The two new organizations that will be authorized to function as political parties are Syrian Democratic and the Solidarity Parties.

In accordance to that law, for a political group to register, it must have 1,000 members in at least half of the 14 provinces of the country.

The creation of parties is one of the initiatives of a democratic reform process President Bashar al-Assad undertook that includes the reformulation of the Constitution, holding elections and the readjust of economy.

A first round of elections for local governments is expected to take place in December and another national legislative one in February or March, the leader underlined last weekend.

During a recent visit to Hama, Prensa Latina interviewed Samir Hoasha, who identified himself as the leader of an opposition organization and expressed his desire to establish a party to participate in December elections.

On the other hand, President al-Assad decreed on Sunday the establishment of the National Media Council, another initiative part of the reform process. (Prensa Latina)