The Syrian president fell this Sunday. For nearly a quarter of a century, Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria with an iron fist, bloodily suppressing a rebellion that turned into a civil war, one of the most brutal of the 21st century. But who is this man who took over from his father?
Paternal heritage
Bachar el-Assad, an ophthalmologist by training, reached the top of the state at the age of 34, in 2000, upon the death of his father, Hafez el-Assad, whom he succeeded. At the head of the Baath party, Hafez el-Assad had imposed an opaque and paranoid regime in Syria where the slightest suspicion of dissent could send someone to prison.
Born on September 11, 1965, his son Bachar was not destined to become president but his life changed radically when his older brother Bassel, who was to succeed his father, was killed in a road accident in 1994. He then had to give up his studies in London, where he met his wife Asma, a Syrian-British Sunni woman with whom he had three children.
When his father died in 2000, Bachar became president by referendum, without opposition. When he took the oath at the age of 34, for many Syrians seeking more freedoms, he embodied the image of a reformer, capable of putting an end to years of repression and establishing a more liberal economy. in this country with stifling state control.
At the start of his presidency, Assad appeared in public driving his car or dining at a restaurant alone with his wife. He relaxes some of the restrictions imposed by his father. But the image of the reformer dissipated very quickly, with the arrest and imprisonment of intellectuals, teachers or other adherents to the reform movement, at the end of a brief “Damascus Spring”.
The shadow of Russia and Iran and repression
In 2011, he was confronted with the Arab Spring in his own country, a series of pro-democracy demonstrations quickly repressed bloodily and which degenerated into civil war notably involving various jihadist forces, including the Islamic State organization.
He managed to stay in power with the massive support of Russia, Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah. Coming from an Alawite lineage, he presents himself as the protector of Syrian minorities and the only shield against extremism and chaos.
When the Arab Spring spread to Syria in March 2011, peaceful demonstrations called for change. Bashar al-Assad, who is also the commander of the armies, then leads a brutal repression quickly followed by a civil war. During the war, which left more than 500,000 dead and displaced half the population, the Syrian president always remained firm in his positions.
Thanks to the support of his Iranian and Russian sponsors, he managed to reconquer two thirds of the territory. Internally, thanks to his “perseverance and rigor”, he managed to “monopolize decision-making powers and guarantee the total support of the army”, explains a researcher in Damascus. Even at the height of the civil war, he remained unfazed, convinced of his ability to crush a rebellion he denounced as “terrorist” and the product of “a plot” by enemy countries to overthrow him.
A “unique and complex” personality
Taking care of his appearance, the leader prefers well-cut suits and a sober tie to military clothing. But beneath a calm and almost shy appearance he demonstrates a desire to retain power at all costs. A journalist who met Bashar al-Assad on multiple occasions before and after the start of the rebellion in Syria in 2011 describes a “unique and complex personality”.
“Every time I met him, he was calm, even in the most critical and difficult moments of the war,” says this journalist on condition of anonymity. “These are exactly the characteristics of his father,” Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for thirty years, he adds. Bashar al-Assad “has succeeded in making himself indispensable. In politics, it is important to know how to reshuffle the cards and he knew how to master the game.” So far.
