Hafez Assad may be dead, but his cult of personality is still very much alive. The Australian reports on why the late Syrian president is still needed by the ruling Alawites:
For despite the evident popularity of the new President, and his moves to build closer relations with the West and forge a more open economy, the regime’s image-makers are still crafting a message of nostalgia for the old system.
Hence young Bashar Al-Assad’s posters announce in firm fashion that he is “following the syllabus of his glorious father”.
However, many observers of the political landscape in Damascus regard the continuing cult of the older Assad as a means of strengthening the cause of the ruling Baath Party’s more doctrinaire and collectivist old guard.
