Three years after Bashar al-Assad took over as president, debate is hotting up on political reforms and the role of the Baath Party which has monopolised power in Syria for the past four decades.
"It would be better for the authorities, in step with society, to carry out comprehensive reforms on a national scale rather than introduce them under orders from abroad," author Michel Kilo said.
The Syrian intellectual was referring to democratic reforms that the United States wants implemented in the Middle East following its ouster of Saddam Hussein in the Iraq war.
The authorities in Syria, where Assad rose to power on July 17, 2000 on the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, "want to emerge from the acute national crisis" in the country, said Kilo.
The leadership of the Baath Party, which has been in power since 1963, called in June for its members to stop meddling in the business of the executive branch.
The party, which is a rival branch of the Baath that ruled Saddam Hussein's Iraq, also stressed in a circular that administration officials should be appointed according to qualifications rather than their political affiliation.
But its power base is Article 8 of the Syrian constitution which grants the Baath the role of "leader of society and state", a factor which Kilo says has contributed to the current crisis on both the political and economic fronts.
In an unprecedented move, Syria's official media said earlier this month the state-run economy cannot be restructured without major political reforms.
Since the Baath's fall in Baghdad on April 9 in the face of US military power, debate on the domestic situation has been rife among Syrian intellectuals and the opposition, as well as in the Arab press.
Kilo, fellow intellectual Antoine Makdissi and Paris-based sociologist Burhan Ghaliun among others have stepped up criticism of Syria's "conservative forces" in newspaper articles, especially the Lebanese daily An-Nahar.
"Given the current international situation, the country can afford less and less to put off major choices. Syria cannot remain in a frozen state," said a Western diplomat posted in Damascus.
Such calls are being stepped up inside the country.
"Some officials think they can sidestep the difficulties by making minor reforms ... and with a few concessions" in the face of US pressure, said An-Nur, the weekly of Syria's communist party, a member of the Baath-led ruling coalition.
In the run-up to Assad's anniversary, An-Nur gave a whole list of demands.
Syria must "separate the branches of power, find a new relationship between the Baath and the state, promote freedoms and pluralism, democratise society and the state, amend laws, reform the economy, combat corruption seriously," it said.
An-Nur pointed to disenchantment in society as the population's living standards continue to slide.
"Most Syrians no longer take seriously the promises of modernisation, development and reforms. They are virtually sure that such words are just an illusion and only aim to appease," it said.
Ten opposition figures who demanded more freedoms and tried to breath life into the reform process were arrested in summer 2001 and have been condemned to prison terms of up to 10 years.
US wants Syria to 'open up' for inspections