Socialist Unionist Party (Syria)

The Socialist Unionist Party (SUP) was a political party in Syria. Founded in 1961 after Syria's secession from the United Arab Republic (UAR), it represented a Nasserist political ideology, advocating for Arab unity and socialism. However, unlike the Ba'ath Party, it held a more conservative stance on social issues and tended to attract support from the merchant class and urban elite.

The party was led by Jamal al-Atassi, a prominent Syrian intellectual and politician. It participated in several coalition governments in the turbulent political climate of the 1960s. However, the rise of the Ba'ath Party after the 1963 coup marginalized the SUP, despite the shared goal of Arab unity.

While initially tolerated, the SUP gradually faced increasing restrictions under Ba'athist rule. Its activities were curtailed, and many of its members were either co-opted into the Ba'ath-led National Progressive Front (NPF) or sidelined from political life. The SUP eventually became a minor component of the NPF, a coalition dominated by the Ba'ath Party, effectively limiting its independent political influence. Its role within the NPF was primarily symbolic, providing a veneer of political pluralism to a single-party-dominated system. The party continued to exist, nominally, within the NPF, but its independent power and significance were greatly diminished.