Draft:8th Regional Congress of the Syrian Ba'ath Party: Difference between revisions

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<!– Important, do not remove anything above this line before article has been created. –>[[File:Eighth Regional Congress of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, January 1985.jpg|thumb|254x254px|Eighth Regional Congress, 1985]]

”’8th Regional Congress”’ ({{langx|ar|المؤتمر الإقليمي الثامن|translit=Al-Mutamar al’iiqlimiu al-Thaamin}}) was the last Regional Congress of the [[Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Ba’ath Party]] command under [[Hafez al-Assad]]’s [[Presidency of Hafez al-Assad|presidency]] and occurred from January 5 to January 20, 1985.

Regional congresses were key moments in shaping the country’s state policy and governance.<ref name=”:0″ />

The main topics for discussion at the congress had already been predetermined in December 1984 by the Central Committee of the Ba’ath Party at a meeting.<ref name=”:0″ />

Any genuine and “unplanned” criticism of Hafez al-Assad was excluded from the discussion.<ref name=”:0″ />

The delegates to the congress included peasants, workers, military personnel, members of the special services, and members of the [[Al-Jama’a|Jama’a]] group.<ref name=”:0″ />

Following the congress, a new Central Committee and a new [[Regional Command (Syria)|Regional Command]] were elected (however, as a result of this congress, their composition remained almost unchanged – essentially, the only officials who were not re-elected to the Regional Command were the allies of Rifaat al-Assad, who [[1984 Syrian coup attempt|attempted a coup d’état]] in 1984). The [[Al-Jama’a|Jama’a]], that is, the politicians closest to Assad personally, controlled the nomination of candidates and their election to these bodies.<ref name=”:0″ />

The congress began with a speech by Hafez al-Assad, mainly concerning foreign policy. After that, the delegates also gave speeches for some time, in which they praised the party and Assad for their successes.<ref name=”:0″ />

In addition to local party delegates, the congress was also attended by external guests, such as [[George Habash]], Khalid Fakhoum, Mahdi Shams al-Din, [[Walid Jumblatt]], and [[Nabih Berri]].<ref name=”:0″ />

Due to Assad’s successes in foreign policy, the mood of the delegates at this congress was more positive than at the previous one.<ref name=”:0″ />

As part of strengthening their regional position, the delegates discussed the militarization of Syria. There was a general consensus that the pace of militarization was insufficient and needed to be accelerated, so the congress began developing a plan to reduce spending on all non-military aspects of citizens’ lives in order to direct the “saved” funds towards increasing arms purchases. Interfering with military spending in order to reduce it was prohibited.<ref name=”:0″ />

The report to Congress, prepared by the Central Committee, emphasized the need to modernize the agricultural sector, increase productivity levels, and strengthen Syria’s economic model as a whole. By that time, Syria was already facing a growing shortage of consumer and producer goods, such as (in some areas) bread or building materials, and its production in the textile industry had declined.<ref name=”:0″ /> As early as 1986, a policy of austerity was announced.

Despite some amendments, the congress did not fundamentally change the economic and political direction of Syria in any way. Nevertheless, the congress paid great attention to the balance between the private and public sectors of the economy (although before the congress there was strong support among some delegates for strengthening the public sector and increasing control over the private sector, after the congress the [[Infiraj]] policy was revived).<ref name=”:0″ />

The final communiqué of the congress was published on January 22, and it stated that Syria’s two most important goals should be achieving strategic parity in all its dimensions and building a strong economy. The communiqué also strongly criticized the unsatisfactory performance of the state economic sector and promised a number of reforms as well as greater encouragement of foreign investment.<ref name=”:0″ />

The Congress also addressed the issue of combating corruption and smuggling – major problems in Syria. For example, approximately 70 percent of all Syrian imports were smuggled into the country by the Syrian army from Lebanon. Officials rarely intervened to prevent acts of embezzlement as long as the funds were being stolen by people loyal to them. The [[Committee for the Investigation of Illegal Profits]], formally created in 1977 to combat corruption, proved ineffective. The president’s brother, Rifaat al-Assad, was also involved in corruption and smuggling, which complicated the fight against these phenomena. The Eighth Regional Congress, despite retaining almost all members of the regional command and central committee in their positions, also led to an immediate purge of lower-ranking corrupt officials and those who assisted them.<ref name=”:0″ />

== Link ==

<ref>{{Cite news|title=Cadres, Guns and Money – MERIP|url=https://merip.org/1985/07/cadres-guns-and-money/|work=MERIP|date=1985-07-31|access-date=2025-11-27|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250707000847/https://merip.org/1985/07/cadres-guns-and-money/|archive-date=2025-07-07|language=en-US|first=Amanda|last=Ufheil-Somers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Michael |date=1994 |title=BUSINESSMEN AND BUTCHERS: THE DOMESTIC ROOTS OF SYRIA’S CHANGING FOREIGN POLICY |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA294657.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawson |first=Fred H. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Global_Security_Watch_Syria/zIHDEAAAQBAJ?hl=ru&gbpv=1&dq=Sixth+Regional+Congress+of+the+Ba’ath+Party+1975&pg=PA22&printsec=frontcover |title=Global Security Watch – Syria |date=2013-02-07 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-35958-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hinnebusch |first=Raymond |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Syria/nnGBAgAAQBAJ?hl=ru&gbpv=1&dq=Sixth+Regional+Congress+of+the+Ba’ath+Party+1975&pg=PA163&printsec=frontcover |title=Syria: Revolution From Above |date=2004-08-02 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-49788-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haddad |first=Bassam S. A. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Business_Networks_in_Syria/5F28IHQpV9EC?hl=ru&gbpv=1&dq=eighth+five+year+plan+syria&pg=PT373&printsec=frontcover |title=Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience |date=2011-12-07 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-7841-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=George |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFdbVVcKsSIC&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Syria: Neither Bread Nor Freedom |date=2003-04 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=978-1-84277-213-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hopwood |first=Derek |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Syria_1945_1986_RLE_Syria/iAc3AgAAQBAJ?hl=ru&gbpv=1&dq=eighth+regional+congress+of+baath+party+1985&pg=PA113&printsec=frontcover |title=Syria 1945-1986: Politics and Society |date=2013-11-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-81842-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=مركز الشرق العربي ـ المستشرقون الجدد ـ متابعة سياسية رقم 992 |url=https://www.asharqalarabi.org.uk/markaz/m_mutabaat-992.htm |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=www.asharqalarabi.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2000 |title=الأول من نوعه منذ 15 عاماً دمشق: المؤتمر القطري في 17 حزيران ينتخب بشار عضواً ويتابع التصحيح |url=https://archive.assafir.com/ssr/1042573.html |publisher=Assafir}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=كونا : المؤتمر القطري التاسع لحزب البعث الحاكم يلتئم غدا – الشؤون السياسية – 16/06/2000 |url=https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?language=ar&id=1090752 |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=www.kuna.net.kw}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=مؤتمر البعث السوري يناقش 3 تقارير إصلاحية تحدد توجهات الحزب المستقبلية {{!}} البوابة |url=https://www.albawaba.com/ar/%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86/%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AB-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%B4-3-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A5%D8%B5%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9 |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=www.albawaba.com |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-09 |title=نيقولاس فان دام : نخبة السلطة العسكرية البعثية في عهد حافظ الأسد .. |url=https://syrmh.com/2021/01/09/%d9%86%d9%8a%d9%82%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d9%81%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%85-%d9%86%d8%ae%d8%a8%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%b7%d8%a9-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%81-2/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=التاريخ السوري المعاصر |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=انتخاب ممثلي “البعث” بالبرلمان السوري: ديكور سياسي لنظام الأسد |url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%85%D9%85%D8%AB%D9%84%D9%8A-%22%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AB%22-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%AF}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=سوريا ما بعد الأسد |url=https://www.alqudscenter.org/index.php?l=ar&pg=QUNUSVZJVElFUw==&sub=UmVwb3J0cyAmIFdvcmtpbmcgUGFwZXJz&id=315 |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=www.alqudscenter.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=المركز الثقافي للبحوث والتوثيق |url=https://www.markazthakafisaida.org/%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%842386/ |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=www.markazthakafisaida.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-20 |title=1985{{!}}التجديد للاسد امينا عاما للحزب |url=https://www.raya.com/lraya-zaman/arab-news/91861 |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=1985{{!}}التجديد للاسد امينا عاما للحزب}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=سورية: “التطوير والتحديث” حزب صوري لتسويق الأسد |url=http://www.asharqalarabi.org.uk/%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AB-%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%AF_ad-id!445900.ks |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=www.asharqalarabi.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haas |first=Mark L. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Clash_of_Ideologies/bjOra4wwHcwC?hl=ru&gbpv=1&dq=Eighth+Regional+Congress+of+Baath+party+1985&pg=PA126&printsec=frontcover |title=The Clash of Ideologies: Middle Eastern Politics and American Security |date=2012-04-19 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-993934-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=”:262″>{{Cite web |date=1987 |title=Syria: A country study |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA198839.pdf |publisher=Area Handbook Series}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1985-09-09 |title=Syria’s Troubled Economy |url=https://www.wrmea.org/1985-september-9/syria-s-troubled-economy.html |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=WRMEA |language=en-gb}}</ref>

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8th Regional Congress (Arabic: المؤتمر الإقليمي الثامن, romanized: Al-Mutamar al’iiqlimiu al-Thaamin) was the last Regional Congress of the Syrian Ba’ath Party command under Hafez al-Assad‘s presidency and occurred from January 5 to January 20, 1985. The congress was held in the People’s Palace and was attended by 771 delegates.^[1]

Regional congresses were key moments in shaping the country’s state policy and governance.^[1]

The main topics for discussion at the congress had already been predetermined in December 1984 by the Central Committee of the Ba’ath Party at a meeting.^[1]

Any genuine and “unplanned” criticism of Hafez al-Assad was excluded from the discussion.^[1]

The delegates to the congress included peasants, workers, military personnel, members of the special services, and members of the Jama’a group.^[1]

Following the congress, a new Central Committee and a new Regional Command were elected (however, as a result of this congress, their composition remained almost unchanged – essentially, the only officials who were not re-elected to the Regional Command were the allies of Rifaat al-Assad, who attempted a coup d’état in 1984). The Jama’a, that is, the politicians closest to Assad personally, controlled the nomination of candidates and their election to these bodies.^[1]

In addition to local party delegates, the congress was also attended by external guests, such as George Habash, Khalid Fakhoum, Mahdi Shams al-Din, Walid Jumblatt, and Nabih Berri.^[1]

Due to Assad’s successes in foreign policy, the mood of the delegates at this congress was more positive than at the previous one.^[1]

The report to Congress, prepared by the Central Committee, emphasized the need to modernize the agricultural sector, increase productivity levels, and strengthen Syria’s economic model as a whole. By that time, Syria was already facing a growing shortage of consumer and producer goods, such as (in some areas) bread or building materials, and its production in the textile industry had declined.^[1] As early as 1986, a policy of austerity was announced.

The Congress also addressed the issue of combating corruption and smuggling – major problems in Syria. For example, approximately 70 percent of all Syrian imports were smuggled into the country by the Syrian army from Lebanon. Officials rarely intervened to prevent acts of embezzlement as long as the funds were being stolen by people loyal to them. The Committee for the Investigation of Illegal Profits, formally created in 1977 to combat corruption, proved ineffective. The president’s brother, Rifaat al-Assad, was also involved in corruption and smuggling, which complicated the fight against these phenomena. The Eighth Regional Congress, despite retaining almost all members of the regional command and central committee in their positions, also led to an immediate purge of lower-ranking corrupt officials and those who assisted them.^[1]

^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]

Draft:8th Regional Congress of the Syrian Ba’ath Party: Difference between revisions

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