of socialism called the Arab road to socialism. Bitar, who had reportedly resigned from his post as Prime Minister after his humiliation at the 1st Regional Congress, was forced to delay his resignation until the aftermath of the 6th National Congress. Bitar's third cabinet was dissolved on 11 November and Hafiz succeeded him as prime minister on 12 November. Second term: 1964 Bitar was reappointed prime minister in the aftermath of the 1964 Hama riot but despite this, the power balance between the Aflaqite old guard and the Military Committee–Regionalist alliance remained unchanged. According to John Devlin, Hafiz's resigned as prime minister because the Military Committee believed that "its people would be better out of the public eye for a while", which Devlin said is the reason Bitar's cabinet did not contain any prominent Military Committee loyalists or Regionalists. The majority of cabinet members were old guard Aflaqites, including party ideologue Abdallah Abd al-Daim as information minister and Fahmi Ashuri as interior minister. On 24 April, a provisional constitution for Syria was introduced. It stated that principal executive power was to be given to the newly established Presidential Council. The make-up of the Presidential Council was to be decided by the National Revolutionary Council (NRC), which Devlin said, "was but another name for the NCRC". While the NRC was in theory the chief executive and legislative body of the state, the NRC relegated much of its powers to the Presidential Council. In May 1964, the Presidential Council comprised Hafiz as chairman, Umram as Deputy Chairman, Bitar, Nureddin al-Atassi and Mansur al-Atrash. The composition of the Presidential Council showed the power balance between the three major factions more accurately then did Bitar's cabinet. Hafiz, Umran and Nureddin al-Atassi were Military Committee–Regionalist loyalists while Bitar and Atrash were Aflaqite old guards. Bitar was the only member of the Presidential Council who was not a member of either the National Command or the Syrian Regional Command. Bitar's cabinet triedwithin the limits given to it by the Presidential Councilto regain the people's trust in the Ba'ath Party. In a summary of his government's policies, Bitar said it would "provide freedom, security, confidence, equal opportunities, and to safeguard individual personal freedoms and respect for public freedoms." On 27 May, the Presidential Council announced its support for Bitar's policies and said it would try to ensure freedom of speech by educating reactionary and undesirable elements within