Referendum set to secure Syria's Assad 2nd term

Syrian members of parliament applaud after the approval of Bashar al-Assad's nomination for a second presidential term, in Damascus, May 11, 2007.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria's Baathist dominated parliament unanimously nominated President Bashar al-Assad on Friday for a second term and set May 27 as the date for a referendum which dissidents have condemned as undemocratic.

The referendum marks another step in a process that all but guarantees Assad's hold on power for another seven years. A new parliament with no opposition was elected in a tightly controlled poll last month.

"The Council of the People approves the Arab Socialist Baath Party nomination of comrade in arms Bashar al-Assad for a second constitutional term and submits the decision to the citizens to vote on," speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash told the chamber.

Assad was the only candidate. Dissidents, scores of whom were jailed over the past year, described parliament's session as a rubberstamp. No opposition parties are allowed in Syria.

The 41-year president won 97.29 percent of the vote in the first referendum in 2000, when he succeeded his late father, Hafez-Assad, and few doubt the result will be any different this time.

"Having only one candidate sends a message to the population that we're adopting heredity rule and not a republican system," said Haitham al-Maleh, a leading lawyer who spent years in jail under Hafez al-Assad.

The president stressed in a speech to parliament on Thursday the need to preserve national cohesion. He said the United States was seeking to undermine Syria, which has been ruled by the Baath since it took power in a coup in 1963 and immediately imposed emergency law.

Assad has kept the political system he inherited from his father largely intact and maintained firm control on power while slowly opening the economy after decades of state control.