This article is from: srnnews.com
Syrian lawmakers are gathering signatures for a proposal to repeal a 1980 law imposing the death penalty for membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, as questions remain over whether the organization could return to political life following the fall of the Assad regime.Law No. 49 of 1980 was enacted under Hafez Assad and made membership in the Muslim Brotherhood a capital offense. The current effort remains at an early legislative stage and has not yet been formally submitted to the Syrian People’s Assembly.Abdel Nasser Houshan, chairman of the People’s Assembly’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat that lawmakers were still collecting signatures for the proposal.Under assembly rules, at least 17 members must support the initiative before the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee can draft an official bill and send it to the assembly.The effort comes as the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood has publicly indicated that it intends to return openly to political activity following the collapse of the Assad regime. Repealing Law No. 49 would eliminate the criminal penalty for Brotherhood membership but would not by itself establish the organization as a legally recognized political party.Questions also remain over whether the law is still technically in force.A declaration issued at the “Victory Conference” on Jan. 29, 2025, after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government, suspended all exceptional laws. It remains unclear whether that measure automatically nullified Law No. 49 or whether lawmakers must formally repeal it.The same declaration dissolved the Baath Party, the parties belonging to the National Progressive Front, and their affiliated organizations, and prohibited their reconstitution.The declaration also dissolved military factions and revolutionary political and civilian bodies, requiring their integration into state institutions.It did not, however, abolish every political party. That left the legal framework governing political party activity during Syria’s transition unresolved.
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