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Syria Shishakli Dictatorship
On December 19, 1949, army leadership changed hands when
Colonel Adib Shishakli arrested Hinnawi and accused him of
conspiring with a foreign power--Iraq--against Syrian interests.
While the army waited, civilian politicians tried to stabilize
the government, and on September 4, 1950, the Constituent
Assembly approved a new constitution and reconstituted itself as
the Chamber of Deputies. But the leaderless civilians were unable
to maintain authority. Inflation produced dissatisfaction in the
cities, and hoarding, unemployment, and rioting followed. An
economic dispute with the Lebanese, who were opposed to Syria's
protective tariffs policy, led to the breaking of the seven-year-
old economic agreement between the countries. Increasing
opposition to army influence--Shishakli demanded that the
minister of national defense be his specially selected follower,
Major General Fawzi Silu--forced Shishakli's hand. On November
28, 1951, he carried out the country's third coup by arresting
the cabinet ministers and appointing Silu prime minister.
Shishakli exercised blatant dictatorial control, tightening his
hold over the civil service and the courts and legislating by
decree. On April 6, 1952, he abolished all political parties and
tried to fill the vacuum by creating his own party--the Arab
Liberation Movement (ALM).
In a July 1953 referendum, Syrians approved a new
constitution making Syria a presidential republic with Shishakli
as president. The subsequent Chamber of Deputies was packed with
ALM deputies, the other parties having boycotted the election.
Signs that Shishakli's regime would collapse appeared at the
end of 1953 with student strikes and the circulation of unusually
virulent pamphlets urging sedition. The major political parties,
meeting at Homs in September, agreed to resist and overthrow
Shishakli. Trouble developed among the Druzes, and Shishakli
declared martial law. The army, infiltrated by Shishakli's
opponents, staged Syria's fourth coup on February 25, 1954, and
restored the 1949 government.
Data as of April 1987
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