Syria President Bashar Assad set on Wednesday February 26 as a date for referendum on the draft Constitution.

Syria President Bashar Assad set on Wednesday February 26 as a date for referendum on the draft Constitution.

Assad “issued Decree No. 85 for 2012 stipulating for setting Sunday / 26/2/2012 / as a date for referendum on the draft Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic”, State news agency SANA reported.

The proposed constitution did away with Article 8 of the old charter which declared the Baath Party, in power since 1963, as the "leader of the state and society."

Earlier on Sunday, a committee tasked with drafting the new constitution, handed a copy of the draft to the Syrian president.
“The Committee's members stressed their determination… to prepare an integrated formula of a constitution that guarantees the dignity of the Syrian citizen and secures his basic rights”, the agency added.

"When the new constitution is approved, Syria will have passed the most important stage of laying down the constitutional and legal structure through the reforms and laws that have already been issued to take the country to a new era in cooperation with all spectrums of the Syrian people to achieve what we all aspire for in terms of developing our country to draw a brilliant future for next generations", the agency quoted Assad as saying during meeting with committee members.

In January, Assad said a new constitution was being drawn up by a committee set up in October to replace the current one.
At the time, he said it could be put to a popular vote as early as March.

RUSSIA WELCOMES

For its part, Russia welcomed the move, saying the new constitution was seen as a step forward.

"We certainly believe a new constitution to end one-party rule in Syria is a step forward. It is a welcome idea and we hope the constitution will be adopted," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in The Hague.

Lavrov was speaking after talks with his Dutch counterpart Uri Rosenthal during a two-day visit to the Netherlands.