4 days ago
Rabih Banat, president of the SSNP, wins second four-year term
The Supreme Council of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP) on Thursday re-elected Rabih Banat as party president for a second four-year term, following a meeting held at the party's headquarters in Rawsheh.
The SSNP, an ally of Hezbollah and the former regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, was founded in 1932 by Antoun Saadeh, who was later sentenced to death by Lebanese authorities and executed on July 8, 1949. He was accused of attempting a coup against the government in retaliation for repressive measures taken by the latter against the party's members.
Advocating for a 'Greater Syria,' the party has recently faced significant internal divisions, with two rival factions — one led by former MP Assaad Hardan, and the other by current leader Rabih Banat.
After his re-election on Thursday, Banat said that 'the milestone achieved by the Supreme Council reflects the nationalists' commitment to their institution and to the principles for which they have fought, sacrificed, and given their lives, loyal to the ideology of Antoun Saadeh.' Banat called for the rejection of sectarianism, which 'serves the interests of the enemy, and for the protection of the resistance and its sources of strength,' stressing the importance of national unity in the face of challenges.
Internal divisions
Splits are common within the pan-Syrian party, which during the civil war was divided between a reformist branch close to Palestinian factions and another branch closer to Damascus. In 1978, they were reunified. As the regional and national political landscape has changed considerably since the death of its founder, the SSNP has faced recurring tensions over how to perpetuate its legacy.
More recently, a significant division occurred within the party, but this time the split was more related to power struggles, differing approaches to internal governance and personal rivalries, rather than ideological reasons. Although both camps are pro-Hezbollah and support the former Syrian regime that was toppled in December 2024, a major split took place in recent years between the supporters of Hardan — who was party president between 2008 and 2016 — and those who challenged his leadership style.
In 2020, after the election of Banat, an opponent of Hardan, to the party presidency, the former MP refused to recognize the election of his rival, criticizing the process by which he rose to the leadership.
Two factions emerged within the party: Banat's and Hardan's. Since then, armed clashes and attacks against the centers of one or the other faction have periodically taken place in various regions across the country. The conflict peaked in 2023 when the SSNP, under Banat's leadership, expelled Hardan from the party. Despite this, Hardan's supporters continue to regard him as the legitimate head of the movement.
Pro-Hezbollah and pro-Assad
Despite these divisions, the SSNP remains a pro-Bashar Assad political party whose influence in Lebanon, already limited before the fall of the former regime in December, is now even more restricted. The party maintains several strongholds, notably in the Hamra neighborhood of Beirut, where it organizes an annual parade to commemorate the anniversary of the 'Wimpy operation,' carried out by party member Khaled Alwan against Israeli soldiers in the famous café in 1982, during the Israeli occupation of Beirut.
The SSNP also operates centers in Bikfaya (Metn), a stronghold of its political rival, the Kataeb Party, and in Koura (North Lebanon), among others.
During the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2024, many party members were killed. While the 'support front' for Gaza, which opened from southern Lebanon in October 2023, a day after the start of the war between Hamas and Israel, included fighters from the Eagles of the Whirlwind (the SSNP's armed wing), the party did not announce separate military operations against Israel, in contrast to Hezbollah.
Today, following the government's decision to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year, the SSNP has unsurprisingly taken a stand in favor of maintaining Hezbollah's weapons, criticizing the decision of Salam's government. A day after the announcement of this decision, al-Binaa, a media outlet affiliated with the SSNP, wrote: 'The government has brought down [the] Taif Agreement, Resolution 1701, and the cease-fire agreement, and exposes the country to [Israeli] aggression.'
