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This is an archive article published on March 30, 2011
Syria Cabinet quits,Assad supporters take to streets
The overtures,while largely symbolic,are a moment of rare compromise in the Assad familys 40 years of iron-fisted rule.
Facing an extraordinary wave of popular dissent,Syrian President Bashar Assad fired his Cabinet on Tuesday and promised to end widely despised emergency laws,concessions unlikely to appease protesters demanding sweeping reforms.
The overtures,while largely symbolic,are a moment of rare compromise in the Assad familys 40 years of iron-fisted rule. Security forces monitor and control nearly every aspect of society in Syria,and the feared secret police crush even the smallest rumblings of opposition. Draconian laws have all but eradicated civil liberties and political freedoms.
The coming days will be key to determining whether Assads concessions will quiet the protest movement.
On Tuesday,the Syrian government mobilised hundreds of thousands of supporters who poured into the streets of Damascus and across many parts of the country as the regime tried to show it has mass support.
The people want Bashar Assad! chanted supporters in a central Damascus square.
Later in the day,Assad accepted the resignation of his Cabinet in a move designed to pacify the anti-government protesters. But the resignations will not affect Assad,who holds the lions share of power in the authoritarian regime, and there are no real opposition figures or alternatives to the current leadership anyway.
On Wednesday,Assad is expected to address the nation publicly for the first time since the unrest began.
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