section_path: History/Post-independence
section_name: Post-independence
paragraph_text: Post-independence
  
  Following the withdrawal of French troops from Syria in 1946, Syrian officials approved the Syrian Constitution of 1950, which maintained a parliamentary system. As such, the president would be elected by a majority of parliament. In the following years, Syria's presidency experienced several upheavals, including by Husni al-Za'im following his March 1949 coup and later by Adib Shishakli in through the 1951 coup. During Shishakli's rule, he published the Syrian Constitution of 1953, which established a presidential system with direct elections to the presidency. However, this constitution lasted less than a year, as the reinstated president Hashim al-Atassi returned the country to the 1950 constitution following the 1954 coup only a year later.
  
  Following the 1958 referendum, Syria joined the United Arab Republic, and its president, Gamal Nasser, also became the Syrian president in the same referendum. This lasted for three years until the 1961 coup, when Syria restored its independence and the 1950 constitution.