The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (also spelled Ba'th or Baath, "resurrection" or "renaissance"; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki), also referred to as the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath movement, was a neo-Ba'athist political party headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq. It is one of two parties (with identical names) which emerged from the 1966 split of the original Ba'ath Party.
In 1966, the original Ba'ath Party was split in half; one half was led by the Damascus leadership of the Ba'ath Party which established a party in Syria, and the other half with its leadership in Baghdad. Both Ba'ath parties retained the same name and maintained parallel structures in the Arab world, but became so antagonistic that Syria — led by its Ba'ath party — became the only Arab state to support Iran against Iraq during the bloody Iran–Iraq War. Ba'athists seized power in Iraq for the first time in 1963, but were deposed several months later. The party's regional organisation governed Iraq between 1968 and 2003, for many years under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region was banned in 2003 by the Coalition Provisional Authority following the invasion of Iraq.
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Ḥizb Al-Ba‘ath Al-‘Arabī Al-Ishtirākī) was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism (from Arabic: البعث Al-Ba'ath or Ba'ath meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"), which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arabism, Arab socialist and anti-imperialist interests. Ba'athism calls for unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Liberty, Socialism", refers to Arab unity, and freedom from non-Arab control and interference.
The party was founded by the merger of the Arab Ba'ath Movement, led by Aflaq and al-Bitar, and the Arab Ba'ath, led by al-Arsuzi, on 7 April 1947 as the Arab Ba'ath Party. The party quickly established branches in other Arab countries, although it would only hold power in Iraq and Syria. The Arab Ba'ath Party merged with the Arab Socialist Party, led by Akram al-Hawrani, in 1952 to form the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The newly formed party was a relative success, and became the second-largest party in the Syrian parliament in the 1954 election. This, coupled with the increasing strength of the Syrian Communist Party, led to the establishment of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union of Egypt and Syria. The union would prove unsuccessful, and a Syrian coup in 1961 dissolved the union.
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Yemen Region (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي - قطر اليمن Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-Arabi Al-Ishtiraki - Qutr Al-Yaman) is the Yemeni regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (based in Damascus).
Ba'athism in Yemen originates back to the 1950s. The party carried out clandestine political activity until 1990. The party was officially registered as the 'Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party' on 31 December 1995, while the pro-Iraq party registered as the 'National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party' in 1997. The general secretary of the party in Yemen is Mohammed Al-Zubairy.
The party contested the 1993 parliamentary election in alliance with the National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, winning seven seats. After the election, however, relations between the two Ba'athist groups soured and they contested further elections separately. In the 1997 and 2003 parliamentary elections, the party won two seats. In 2003, the party received 0.66% of the national vote. The party supported Ali Abdullah Saleh in the 1999 presidential election. In December 2008, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and the National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party agreed to again coordinate their political activities.
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي – قطر سوريا Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-Arabi Al-Ishtiraki – Qutr Suriya), officially the Syrian Regional Branch (Syria being a "region" of the Arab nation in Ba'ath ideology), is a neo-Ba'athist organisation founded on 7 April 1947 by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and followers of Zaki al-Arsuzi. It was first the regional branch of the original Ba'ath Party (1947–1966) before it changed its allegiance to the Syrian-dominated Ba'ath movement (1966–present) following the 1966 split within the original Ba'ath Party. The party has ruled Syria continuously since the 1963 Syrian coup d'état which brought the Ba'athists to power.
History
Founding and early years: 1947–1963
The Ba'ath Party, and indirectly the Syrian Regional Branch, was established on 7 April 1947 by Michel Aflaq (a Christian), Salah al-Din al-Bitar (a Sunni Muslim) and Zaki al-Arsuzi (an Alawite). According to the congress, the party was "nationalist, populist, socialist, and revolutionary" and believed in the "unity and freedom of the Arab nation within its homeland." The party opposed the theory of class conflict, but supported the nationalisation of major industries, the unionisation of workers, land reform, and supported private inheritance and private property rights to some degree. The party merged with the Arab Socialist Party (ASP), led by Akram al-Hawrani, to establish the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Lebanon following Adib Shishakli's rise to power. Most ASP members did not adhere to the merger and remained, according to George Alan, "passionately loyal to Hawrani's person." The merger was weak, and a lot of the ASP's original infrastructure remained intact. In 1955, the party decided to support Nasser and what they perceived as his pan-Arabic policies.