Following the 1961 secession of the Syrian Arab Republic from the United Arab Republic, on 21 May 1962, Nasser issued a National Charter that was approved by a 1,750-member National Congress of Popular Powers on 30 June. Though not a constitution, this charter was a distillation of Nasser's Arab socialist ideology and the basis for future constitutional efforts in the 1960s. On 27 September 1962, a presidential Constitutional Proclamation was made, which stipulated that the Provisional Constitution of 1958 should remain in force insofar as it did not contradict the Proclamation.