Opposition in Syria to the merger with Egypt has spread to include many key Syrian army officers and leading government officials, it was reported here today on the basis of information from Damascus.
With initial enthusiasm about the merger beginning to chill, Syria’s top military and government leaders are apparently beginning to wonder what their personal positions will be when the merger reduces Damascus to a “provincial capital,” Israel experts reported.
These authorities said that the “popular referendum” due later in February to elect a president of the United Arab Republic would elect Nasser with the “usual 99 percent of the vote.” The vote will be watched closely in Israel, nevertheless, on the theory that the degree of voter participation, as well as the circumstances preceding and accompanying the referendum, will influence the pace of actual merger.
Protests from Syria’s merchant class has already indicated that actual economic merger will not be implemented for some time, according to reports received in Israel The reports indicated that the abolition of Syria’s political parties and the establishment of a single National Front party along Egyptian lines has been postponed.
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