Ba'ath party in Lebanon now has a new name: 'The National Emblem Party'

A little more than a year after the fall of the decades-long Assad regime in Syria, the head of the Ba'ath Party in Lebanon, Ali Hijazi, announced that the party would change its name to the “National Emblem Party.”

Hijazi held a press conference at the Risalat Auditorium in Ghobeiri, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on Friday, where he announced the change, describing it as “a pivotal step in the modernization process, launching the organizational overhaul and ushering the party into a new political phase.”

He added, “Lebanon and the region have entered a new era, and we have decided to change our name, but not our mission. We will now work to achieve our goals: solidarity, sovereignty and social justice. We are now extending our hand to connect internally with the different factions that make up Lebanon.”

He also stated, “We will officially submit a request at the Interior Ministry to change the name of our party, and we call on President Joseph Aoun and the Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to help facilitate this change, which is allowed by the constitution.”

When and how was the Ba'ath party founded?

The Ba'ath party was founded in 1947 by two Syrians, Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar, as a pan-Arab nationalist and socialist movement.

While the Syrian branch originally operated within this broader regional party, it evolved into a military dictatorship under Hafez al-Assad and later his son Bashar. Similarly, the Iraqi branch became a dictatorship under Saddam Hussein.

The Ba'ath party had served as the ideological foundation for a regime that tolerated minimal dissent, imprisoning and killing hundreds of thousands of opponents.

In the early hours of Dec. 8, after Bashar al-Assad fled, Syrians stormed Ba'ath offices and destroyed party flags.

The party was officially banned in Syria in late January 2025 by interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, and its assets were seized and transferred to state bodies.

Even before dissolution, the party had suspended its activities and handed over weapons and funds to the new administration.

'Only a very small number of people remain in the Ba'ath Party in Lebanon'

On Sunday, Hijazi emphasized “the need to adopt a new methodology of work and to develop the party’s organizational and media tools in line with national and regional changes.”

The leadership unanimously voted for the name change.

Syria had historically used the Lebanese Ba'ath Party to project power and maintain influence in Lebanese politics, particularly during its military presence from 1976 to 2005.

However, Imad Salamey, Professor of Middle East and International Affairs at the Lebanese American University, told L’Orient Today that “only a very small number of people remain in the Ba'ath Party in Lebanon, and this is evident when Ali Hijazi or others from his party run for elections, they barely receive votes.”

Even before the downfall of the Assad regime, in Lebanon, the 2022 legislative Elections showed a steep decrease in the popularity of the parties and figures traditionally affiliated with the Assad regime.

After Bashar al-Assad’s fall, the Lebanese Ba'ath Party, once heavily reliant on Damascus, faced an existential crisis, losing its ideological anchor and external patron.

Its future depended on navigating shifting power dynamics, particularly regarding Hezbollah and Iran, both former allies and supporters of the Assad regime.

'It has lost the foundations of its existence'

Salamey explained, “In reality, it has lost the foundations of its existence: it no longer has a coherent ideological vision, no meaningful popular support, and no active political or social movement representing a segment of Syrians or Lebanese. Ali Hijazi is not offering a genuine political platform; he is simply positioning himself for personal visibility.”

Salamey noted that "with the collapse of the former Syrian regime, what remains of the party is confined largely to small sectarian-political pockets, groups connected to sectarian-based loyalties like to Shiites or Alawites."

Salamey concluded, “It was a part of the terrorist Assad regime and perished when the regime fell.”

Throughout the years in Lebanon, the official representation of Ba'ath Party members in the Cabinet and Parliament was limited.

The most notable figure was Assem Qanso, former head of the Ba'ath Party in Lebanon, who was elected as an MP for Baalbeck-Hermel in the 2009 elections.