Hafez al Assad was the first democratically elected President of which country?
Presidency of Hafez al-Assad Presidency of Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad served as the President of Syria from 1970 until his death in 2000. As of 2015, he is the longest-serving Syrian head of state. He was succeeded by his son, Bashar al-Assad. In 1971, while Prime Minister, Assad embarked upon a "corrective movement" at the Eleventh National Congress of the Ba'ath Party. There was to be a general revision of national policy, which also included the introduction of measures to consolidate his rule. His Ba'athist predecessors had restricted control of Islam in public life and government. Because the Constitution allowed only Muslims to become
Hafez al-Assad in 1994, and Hafez turned to his third choice—his younger son Bashar, who at that time had no political experience. This move was met with criticism within some quarters of the Syrian ruling class, but Assad persisted with his plan and demoted several officials who opposed this succession. Hafez died in 2000 and Bashar succeeded him as President. Hafez was born on 6 October 1930 in Qardaha to an Alawite family of the Kalbiyya tribe. His parents were Na'sa and Ali Sulayman al-Assad. Hafez was Ali's ninth son, and the fourth from his second marriage. Sulayman married twice, had eleven