Assad Forms Commission Tasked with Legalizing Political Parties
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday signed a decree setting a commission tasked with legalizing political parties.
The commission is chaired by the prime minister and comprises a magistrate and two lawyers.
On August 4, the embattled president signed a decree authorizing the creation of political parties alongside the ruling Baath party which has monopolized power for nearly five decades.
Assad on Sunday said Syria will reform at its own pace, ruling out bowing to Western demands.
"When they speak of reforms, Western colonialist countries mean that we must give them everything they want, that we abandon resistance, that we abandon our rights.
"They shouldn't even dream of it," he said in his fourth television appearance since the start of the pro-democracy demonstrations on March 15.
Source: Agence France Presse
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