The Syrian and Arab Hope
Lt. Gen. Bashar Assad / word
Damascus, 20/6/2000
President elect- Dr. Bashar Assad, encouraged by the sincere affection of the Syrian people demonstrated during the funeral of the late President Hafez Assad expressed hop late Tuesday Syria would manage to confront all future challenges and difficulties.
Comrades, There are solemn missions waiting and grand challenges facing and we will all, God willing, be as responsible as this historic responsibility be, he said.
We shall confront challenges and will go together through your trust, love and support for the sake of the accomplishing these missions and surpassing those challenges , Dr. Bashar told the 9th Congress of the Baath Party in his first ever address since his public entry into to the political life after the death of his father.
Bashar, who was unanimously named by the conferees after 4-day meetings as Secretary General of the Baath Party , suggested Arab unity had became a crucial demand and that the Arab world should look forward to achieving unification , even stages by stages and it the unity has not been achieved so far, it remains a legitimate goal.
Lt. Gen. Bashar is President of Syria
Damascus, 11/7/2000
Speaker of the Peoples Assembly Abdul Qader Qaddoura on Tuesday announced Lt. Gen. Bashar al-Assad President of the Syrian Arab Republic for a seven years term.
The declaration came during the extraordinary session held by the parliament and transmitted via TV. I declare Lt. Gen. Bashar al-Assad as President of the Syrian Arab Republic for seven years term, Qaddoura said.
He noted the new President would take oath on Monday July 17 at eleven AM local time.
The Syrian constitution termed the President would start ruling the moment he sworn in . It is a norm the new president would specify main lines of his policy in an address to the people.