The first week of June 2000 found Damascus bustling with activity in preparation for the Ba'th Party congress opening on June 17. That was no ordinary party conclave but the first in fifteen years and the occasion for the planned investiture of Bashshar al-Asad as successor to his father, Hafiz. The 34-year old was to be elected a member of the Party's Regional Command, facilitating a quiet and orderly transition process.
But an unpleasant surprise marred these preparations: on the morning of June 10, the 69-year old ruler of Syria died, reportedly while talking on the telephone to his Lebanese counterpart. The rite of investiture was thus preceded by a funeral rite.
If Asad's death was untimely, preceding his son's elevation by a mere week, it did come at a point when the son appeared to be ready to take on his father's mantle. It had long been an open secret that the previous year had witnessed an unprecedented deterioration in the elder Asad's state of health, and that he had hardly functioned as his country's president; his days were understood to be numbered. This had given the grooming Bashshar as successor an urgent quality and the first half of the year 2000 saw both him and the Syrian regime at large preparing for the transition of power. When the moment arrived finally, the process worked smoothly and Bashshar rapidly ascended to become Syria's president.
His formal investiture left key questions unanswered, however. Would Bashshar manage to hold on to power? How much would domestic and foreign policies change? The answers depend in part on the personality and leadership qualities of Bashshar himself; but they also depend in large part on the legacy left him by his father - or more precisely, on the state of affairs in Syria during Asad's last days.
But an unpleasant surprise marred these preparations: on the morning of June 10, the 69-year old ruler of Syria died, reportedly while talking on the telephone to his Lebanese counterpart. The rite of investiture was thus preceded by a funeral rite.
If Asad's death was untimely, preceding his son's elevation by a mere week, it did come at a point when the son appeared to be ready to take on his father's mantle. It had long been an open secret that the previous year had witnessed an unprecedented deterioration in the elder Asad's state of health, and that he had hardly functioned as his country's president; his days were understood to be numbered. This had given the grooming Bashshar as successor an urgent quality and the first half of the year 2000 saw both him and the Syrian regime at large preparing for the transition of power. When the moment arrived finally, the process worked smoothly and Bashshar rapidly ascended to become Syria's president.
His formal investiture left key questions unanswered, however. Would Bashshar manage to hold on to power? How much would domestic and foreign policies change? The answers depend in part on the personality and leadership qualities of Bashshar himself; but they also depend in large part on the legacy left him by his father - or more precisely, on the state of affairs in Syria during Asad's last days.
