The ruling party in Syria is set to reform itself, but it is not yet known whether or not party leaders will be fired, reports the Lebanese daily A-Dustour.
The reform plan will be presented soon at the tenth national conference of the Ba’ath party, informed Syrian sources told A-Dustour.
The reform is expected to comprise various elements, including changes in its ideological and structural infrastructure.
The sources say the plan is a result of international and national changes, which require “head to toe” reforms in the party. Nevertheless, they deny the party lost its reason to exist after the American conquest of Iraq and the fall of the Ba’ath party in Baghdad. The sources added there is much difference between the Ba’ath parties in Baghdad and Damascus.
It is not yet known whether or not party leaders, who occupied high-ranking offices in the Syrian administration over the past four decades, will be fired as part of the reform plan. However, it was revealed that new blood is expected to enter the administration.
Earlier this month Syria’s Defense Minister Mu’stafa Tlas [3] retired after 42 years in office. Tlas was a member of the Ba’ath party since the 1960s.