( CNN ) -- In Syria , the Christians are angry . For eleven months , many of their leaders have stood firmly behind the regime of President Bashar al-Assad . However , Syria 's new constitution explicitly says in Article 3 that the president of the country has to be a Muslim , thereby barring Christians from the right to run for the top post . On Sunday , pro-government Syrians went to the polls to approve the new constitution . In protest of Article 3 , Christians voted with a `` no , '' while the opposition movement boycotted the election altogether , saying that it was inconceivable for it to take place while the country is up in flames . Nevertheless , the new constitution passed . The controversial clause in Article 3 has been around for a long time , ever since Syria established its first constitution in 1920 . Both secular and Christian Syrians have over the years tried to amend the clause but to no avail . In 1973 , President Hafez al-Assad released a constitutional draft that omitted reference to Islam as the official religion of the state , which enraged conservative Muslims . Faced with pressure , Assad eventually restored Article 3 to its original form . But now , as Arab Spring sweeps across the Arab world , Syria needs to rethink its old ways . What the government should realize is that it 's bad politics to bar any religious group from running for presidency . If a Muslim Kurd from Qamishly has a possibility of running for the job , then why ca n't a Christian from Damascus ? Christians make up 12 % of the 23 million people in Syria . Even if a Christian has a right to run for president , it is unlikely that he will win since the majority of Syria 's population which is made of 75 % Sunni would never vote for a Christian . So , the Muslims should have nothing to fear and allow Christians the right to run for the office of the presidency . Moreover , Syrian Christians have until now been overwhelmingly supportive of the regime , fearing that if the regime collapses , then Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood would rise to power and focus on marginalizing the Christians . The scenarios in Tunisia , Egypt , Libya , Iraq and Morocco have not been encouraging . While the older generation among the Christians is more or less rallied behind the government , the younger generation is less ideological and more forward-looking . The Western-educated , Internet-savvy Christians refuse to buy the argument that says : `` It 's either the Baathists , the Islamists , or chaos . '' Like the young and ambitious Syrians in the broader population , they want to see a democratic transformation of the country and are confident that they will become an integral part of its future , regardless of who rises to power . The urban Christians , especially those in Damascus and Aleppo , often argue that they have been around long before the Muslims came along ; and as such , they are entitled to live , work and have the right to govern the country like their countrymen . Despite the efforts of Syrian Christians , there were heavy pressures for the government to include Article 3 in the new constitution . Given the rise of Islamic zeal throughout Syria , there is fear that the public would be outraged if Christians are allowed the right to run for president . Since violence erupted last March , the government has been trying hard to appease the religious clerics who have been very influential in the anti-Assad demonstrations . Many of the clerics , needless to say , are religious dictators . The regime has tried to win over the clerics by bending to their demands , like shutting down the Damascus casino or allowing the establishment of an Islamic TV channel -- Nour al-Sham -- that contradicts everything the secular Baathists had stood for since the mid-1960s . Article 3 , of course , is not the only problem with the new constitution . The power given to the presidency is enormous . Syria 's government still feels that it can keep a presidential term at 7 years , renewable only once , although oppositions have demanded that the term be set at five years , renewable only once . The new constitution also gives the president the right to name a prime minister rather than vesting that authority in parliament and the right to fire a cabinet unilaterally . It still keeps the executive and legislative branches as subordinate to the president and allows him to name the head of the Supreme Judicial Council ( Supreme Court ) . Although the flawed constitution is hailed as a great achievement by Syria 's state media , many Syrians have become disenchanted , to say the least . Eleven months into the uprisings , Syrians are weary and tired . No longer do they just want an end to the one-party rule -- they now wish for real democracy , where justice , accountability and the rule of law can bring order to public life . They want a constitution that gives Muslims and Christians equal access to all jobs , including the presidency . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sami Moubayed .
In Syria , a newly approved constitution says that only Muslims can be president . Sami Moubayed : Despite their support for the regime , Christians ca n't run for president . He says while the government is pressured to stipulate this rule , it 's bad politics . Moubayed : Many Syrians want a constitution that treat Muslims and Christians fairly .