Constitution

Syrian Arab Republic 2017 Draft Constitution

Chapter 4. The Executive Authority

Article 48

The President of the Republic and the Government of the Republic exercise executive authority on behalf of the people within the limits provided for in the Constitution.

Article 49

  1. The President of the Republic is elected for the term of 7 years by citizens of Syria on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
  2. No person can hold the office of the President of the republic for more than two consecutive terms.
  3. The candidate who wins the election for the President of the Republic is the one who gets more than one half of votes of those who take part in the elections. If no candidate receives such majority, a rerun is carried out between the two candidates who receive the largest number of votes.
  4. The results shall be announced by the Speaker of the People’s Assembly.
  5. If the President’s term in office has expired and no new President has been elected, the existing President of the Republic continues to assume his duties until the new President is elected.

Article 50

A candidate for the presidency must be over 40 years of age and hold the Syrian citizenship.

Article 51

  1. The nomination of a candidate for the office of President of the Republic shall be as follows:
    1. The People’s Assembly calls for the election of the President of the Republic within a period not less than 30 days and not more than 90 days before the end of the term of office of the existing president;
    2. the candidacy application shall be made to the Supreme Constitutional Court and entered in a special register within 10 days of announcing the call for electing the president;
    3. the candidacy application shall not be accepted unless the applicant has acquired the support of at least 35 members of the People’s Assembly and (or) the Constituent Assembly. No member of the Assemblies can support more than one candidate;
    4. applications shall be examined by the Supreme Constitutional Court; and should be ruled on within 5 days of the deadline for application.
  2. If the conditions required for candidacy were met by only one candidate during the period set for applying, the Speaker of the People’s Assembly decides on the postponement of the elections of the President of the Republic and calls for fresh nominations according to the same conditions.

Article 52

  1. The Supreme Constitutional Court has the jurisdiction to examine the challenges to the election of the President of the Republic.
  2. The challenges shall be made by the candidate within 3 days of announcing the results; and the court makes a final ruling on them within 7 days after the deadline for making the challenges.

Article 53

Before assuming his duties the President of the Republic shall be sworn in before the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly by saying the constitutional oath mentioned in Article 17 of the Constitution.

Article 54

The allocations required for the office of the President of the Republic shall be set out in the budget.

Article 55

  1. The President of the Republic is the guarantor of the independence, unity and territorial integrity of the country.
  2. The President of the Republic shall enforce the Constitution, ensure continuous operation of public authorities, and protect the constitutional order, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
  3. The President of the Republic shall act as an intermediary for the state authorities, and between the state and the society. To resolve disputes between the state bodies, the President has the right to use conciliatory procedures.
  4. The President of the Republic represents Syria in international relations.
  5. The President of the Republic shall decide on issues of citizenship and granting of political asylum, award state medals and honors, confer supreme military ranks and supreme special titles; and grant pardon.

Article 56

The President of the Republic has the right to address letters to the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly, as well as make statements before them.

Article 57

The President of the Republic issues decrees, edicts and instructions in accordance with the Constitution and the law.

Article 58

  1. The President of the Republic shall conclude international treaties on behalf of Syria and refer them to the People’s Assembly for ratification.
  2. Upon proposal from the government, the President shall appoint and recall diplomatic representatives of Syria, and approves the establishment and abolition of or change of status for diplomatic missions.
  3. The President accepts credentials and letters of recall of accredited heads of foreign diplomatic missions.

Article 59

The President of the Republic might call for a referendum on important issues which affect the higher interests of the country. The result of the referendum shall be binding and come into force as of the date of its announcement by the President of the Republic.

Article 60

  1. The President of the Republic is the Commander in Chief of the army and armed forces; and he issues all the decisions necessary to exercise this authority.
  2. In the event of aggression or threat of aggression against Syria, the President of the Republic shall:
    1. take measures to repel the aggression and immediately notify the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly of such measures in an address. In case the People’s Assemble and the Constituent Assembly are not in session, they are to be summoned within 24 hours after the beginning of the aggression;
    2. declare mobilization and within 3 days of such declaration ask the Constituent Assembly to approve it.
  3. In the event of aggression or threat of aggression against Syria, or threats to the security of the state, the President shall have the right to declare the state of emergency in the territory of the country or in its certain parts with prior approval from the Constituent Assembly. In exceptional cases the decision of the President of the Republic is sent for approval to the Constituent Assembly within a day after making such a decision. When the state of emergency is in effect, the People’s Assembly, the Constituent Assembly and the President of the Republic shall continue to exercise their authority. Besides, the no-confidence vote cannot be made to the government.

Article 61

  1. The President of the Republic may be removed from office by the Constituent Assembly only after the People’s Assembly brings against him charges of high treason or another grave crime, and the legality of such charges and of the procedure for bringing them up have been confirmed in the Supreme Constitutional Court’s resolution.
  2. The decision of the People’s Assembly to bring up charges and the decision of the Constituent Assembly to remove the President from office must be made by two thirds of all the votes of the members of each Assembly following the initiative from at least one third of the members of the People’s Assembly.
  3. The decision of the Constituent Assembly to remove the President of the Republic must be adopted not later than ninety days after the People’s Assembly brings up the charges against the President. If within this period the Constituent Assembly fails to adopt such a decision, the charges against the President shall be regarded as rejected.

Article 62

  1. If the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant or if he is permanently incapacitated, the Prime Minister assumes the President’s duties for a period of no more than 90 days of the President of the Republic’s office becoming vacant or his permanent incapacitation. When the Prime Minister is unable to perform such duties, the functions of the President are delegated to the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly. Within the stated period of time new presidential elections shall be held.
  2. In case of resignation, the President of the Republic shall inform the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly about it.

Article 63

  1. The Government is the highest executive body. It consists of the Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers. The government shall control the implementation of laws and development plans, and the work of state bodies.
  2. The Government shall be responsible before the President of the Republic, the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly.
  3. The President of the Republic determines the general directions of the Government activities. He has the right to summon the Government for a meeting, to preside at the government meetings, to request reports from the Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers.
  4. The Prime Minister manages the Government, coordinates and controls the work of his deputies and ministers, speaks on behalf of the Government.

Article 64

  1. The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers, accepts their resignations and dismisses them.
  2. The President shall appoint deputies to the Prime Minister and ministers based on the proportionate representation of all ethnic and religious groups of the Syrian population; some positions shall be reserved for national and religious minorities. Regarding these issues the President of the Republic has the right to hold consultations with the members of the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly.

Article 65

The Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers are sworn in before the President of the Republic by saying the constitutional oath stated in Article 17 of the Constitution.

Article 66

  1. Within thirty days after the formation of the Government, the Prime Minister shall submit the program of actions to the People’s Assembly and to the Constituent Assembly for discussion at a joint session.
  2. Members of the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly have the right to send inquiries to the Government, the Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers according to the assembly’s rules of procedure.

Article 67

The mandate of the Government is as follows:

  1. it guides the work of ministries and other public bodies;
  2. it drafts the state budget;
  3. it drafts laws;
  4. it draws executive plans of the Government;
  5. it concludes loans agreements, provides state guarantees and credits in accordance with the budget;
  6. it concludes international treaties and agreements granting privileges to foreign companies, international treaties and agreements entailing additional expenses not included in the budget, or contracts and agreements related to loans, or those that require new legislation to become effective;
  7. it oversees implementation of the laws, protecting the interests and security of the state, the rights and freedoms of the population;
  8. it makes administrative decisions in accordance with the law and overseeing their implementation;
  9. it appoints and dismisses civil servants and servicemen in accordance with the law.

Article 68

  1. The Government issues decisions and regulations.
  2. Decisions are issued in the furtherance of the laws.
  3. Regulations shall be based on a law giving the Government authority to issue such a regulation.

Article 69

  1. The Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers are forbidden from being on the boards of private companies or from representing such companies, as well as from engaging in direct and indirect commercial activities and private entrepreneurship.
  2. The law shall state what responsibilities shall be imposed on the Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers to prevent and resolve a conflict of interest.

Article 70

The People’s Assembly, the Constituent Assembly and the President of the Republic have the right to call for criminal prosecution of the Prime Minister, his deputies and ministers for acts committed by them while exercising authority. Bringing a member of the government before the court leads to his suspension from his office.

Article 71

  1. The government shall resign in the following cases:
    1. upon expiration of the term of office of the President of the Republic;
    2. in case of a vote of no confidence;
  2. The government shall continue its work until a new government is formed.

Article 72

  1. The People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly may obtain a no confidence vote in the Government at a joint session by a majority of votes of all the members of the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly.
  2. The no confidence vote may be initiated by no less than one third of all the members of the People’s Assembly or by no less than one third of all the members of the Constituent Assembly. The government shall be informed of the vote on the day of such proposal.
  3. The no confidence vote is submitted for discussion three days after the initial proposal at a joint session of the People’s Assembly and the Constituent Assembly.
  4. If the no confidence vote is rejected, the members of the People’s Assembly or the members of the Constituent Assembly who initiated the vote cannot initiate a new no confidence vote during the term of the People’s Assembly.