In the July 21, 2003, edition of the Egyptian daily al-Ahram, Syria's Information Minister Adnan Omran is reported to have said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has implemented “stable” transparency in the country’s policies on information rights. Omran told the Egyptian newspaper that the Syrian peoples’s right to knowledge could only be actualized through increased freedoms for local media, as have recently been allowed, as well as through the citizen’s unimpeded access to all media and to various opinions.
Assad, noted the information minister, has given permission for new, private newspapers to operate in Syria, which is in line with the “march of modernization” underway in the country. As part of this overall policy, the Information Ministry is currently working on a big project to develop the information infrastructure, including modernizing television and radio broadcasts, Omran told al-Ahram.
As if in a competition with Syria over media liberalization, al-Ahram printed a column in its July 20, 2003, edition that was surprisingly critical of the ruling Democratic National Party (DNP). The columnist, Salamah Ahmad Salamah, called the DNP’s rule over the state institutions, of which al-Ahram is one, a “monopoly”. This situation, Salamah wrote, and the DNP’s “stubborn rejection of the political reforms” has left “ no room for renewal and renovation in thinking and in the leadership, [and has] added an atmosphere of uncertainty in Egypt.” Specifically, by way of example, the Egyptian columnist asks why “demanding amendment of the constitution, in order to [make it] more adaptable to changes and developments taking place in Egypt” is considered by officials a threat to political stability, social peace and national unity. The DNP’s self-perpetuating monopoly, Salamah charges, is the reason that “most of youths and intellectuals ignored taking part in the elections and in the political process as a whole.”
Assad, noted the information minister, has given permission for new, private newspapers to operate in Syria, which is in line with the “march of modernization” underway in the country. As part of this overall policy, the Information Ministry is currently working on a big project to develop the information infrastructure, including modernizing television and radio broadcasts, Omran told al-Ahram.
As if in a competition with Syria over media liberalization, al-Ahram printed a column in its July 20, 2003, edition that was surprisingly critical of the ruling Democratic National Party (DNP). The columnist, Salamah Ahmad Salamah, called the DNP’s rule over the state institutions, of which al-Ahram is one, a “monopoly”. This situation, Salamah wrote, and the DNP’s “stubborn rejection of the political reforms” has left “ no room for renewal and renovation in thinking and in the leadership, [and has] added an atmosphere of uncertainty in Egypt.” Specifically, by way of example, the Egyptian columnist asks why “demanding amendment of the constitution, in order to [make it] more adaptable to changes and developments taking place in Egypt” is considered by officials a threat to political stability, social peace and national unity. The DNP’s self-perpetuating monopoly, Salamah charges, is the reason that “most of youths and intellectuals ignored taking part in the elections and in the political process as a whole.”