( CNN ) -- Syrian opposition voices spoke out Monday against a proposed law that would allow for new political parties , calling it little more than a publicity stunt . If enacted , the bill would add to a long list long list of reform promises going back at least five years . `` The Syrian regime is just easing international pressure to implement political and social reforms in Syria . The regime is simply constitutionalizing dictatorship through this new law that lacks basic elements for political parties to be formed freely , '' said Hassan Chalabi , a member of the Syrian National Salvage Congress . Chalabi said the proposal `` does not fulfill the aspirations of the opposition and the people of Syria . '' Others say the prerequisites required to form a new party make it nearly impossible to do so . `` The law stipulates that any political party needs to have at least 2,000 members representing at least seven Syrian provinces before being active , '' said Damascus lawyer Anwar Al Bounni , who heads the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research . He added that the parties can not be active until they are legalized by a committee formed by the minister of interior , a judge and three other members appointed by the president . This stipulation , Al Bounni said , makes it impossible for opposition parties to establish a presence , despite the new law . `` The law issued by the Syrian government is just for the media consumption and to delude the international community that the Syrian regime is implementing reforms . The reality is that it is not , '' Al Bounni said . Anti-regime demonstrators took to the streets Sunday night , chanting for the fall of the regime into the early hours of Monday , according to activists and protest videos posted on the Internet . State media also reported the sacking of two regional governors as a move to appease Syrian citizens . The governors replacing those sacked were to do more `` to meet the citizens ' demands and interests , '' according to the SANA state news agency . More than 12,000 demonstrators participated in two towns alone , dissident organization Local Coordination Committees of Syria said . Videos posted on YouTube showed public squares of at least five cities packed with nighttime protesters . Pro-democracy activists renewed their claim of a government `` detention campaign '' and reported 15 arrests in a Damascus suburb during a demonstration in support of the city of Homs , which is under a military crackdown . CNN can not independently confirm the demonstrations or detentions . Syria 's Cabinet approved the bill Sunday to provide for the formation of new political parties , according to SANA , `` as part of the directives of the political reform program . '' It would require that new parties adhere to principles similar to those of Western democracies , SANA reported . But new parties would not be allowed to have members `` convicted of an offense or felony . '' Past announcements of reform have done little to quell protests . Online videos posted Monday morning showed protesters reaffirming demands of regime change , chanting : `` The people want the fall of the regime . '' President Bashir al-Assad had introduced economic and , to a lesser extent , political reforms in Syria as early as 2006 , according to a July 2006 report by the Carnegie Endowment . Those reforms were `` more cosmetic than consequential , '' the report concluded . Human Rights Watch says Syrian security forces have intensified their campaign of mass arrests in cities that have had anti-government protests . The cities include Hama , Homs and suburbs around Damascus , the group said . Citing `` reliable activists and witnesses , '' it estimated that security forces have arrested more than 2,000 anti-government protesters , medical professionals caring for wounded protesters and people alleged to have given information to international news media and human rights organizations . Local Coordination Committees of Syria estimates that more than 15,000 people arrested since the beginning of the protests remain in detention , Human Rights Watch said . The organization said it had `` already documented widespread torture from the accounts of people who have been released , causing concern that many detainees still in detention are being tortured . '' The unrest in Syria began in mid-March after teens were arrested for writing anti-government graffiti in the southern city of Daraa , according to Amnesty International . As the clashes intensified , demonstrators changed their demands , from calls for freedom and an end to abuses by the security forces to calls for the regime 's overthrow . CNN 's Rima Maktabi contributed to this report .
The opposition claimed the new law is ` ` constitutionalizing dictatorship '' Sunday protests fell on the heels of Cabinet approval of a reform bill . Images posted online showed public spaces filled with anti - regime protesters . This renewed claims of arrest made by President Bashir al - Assad 's regime .