Hundreds of Syrians burned car tires, blocked roads and shouted anti-government slogans today in the predominantly Druze town of Sweida to protest the country’s worsening economic conditions and gasoline price hikes this week.

The protesters who gathered near a central town square they demanded the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assadwitnesses said, in the wake of slogans from pro-democracy protests in 2011 that were violently suppressed by security forces and led to the outbreak of a long-running conflict.

“Long live Syria, down with Bashar al-Assad,” chanted protesters near police headquarters and the governor’s office as security forces, nearby, avoided confrontation.

Such open protests are rare in state-controlled areas.

The southwestern city of Sweden has remained under government control and has been spared the unrest experienced in other parts of the country.

Many residents are from the Druze minority who refused to be drawn into the conflict where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting the Assad regime.

Syria is in the throes of a deep economic crisis with its currency falling to an all-time low of 15,500 Syrian pounds against the US dollar yesterday, Wednesday, in a rapidly accelerating free fall. It was 47 pounds to the dollar at the start of the conflict.

The government says cuts to a once-generous subsidy program to ease the burden of sanctions on the country’s public finances are only affecting the wealthiest.

But many protesters say the measure has exacerbated the daily hardships faced by Syrians who, after a decade of war, struggle to secure food and other essentials amid rampant inflation and eroding incomes.

Syrian authorities blame the difficulties on Western sanctions.

There have been several smaller protests in the past month over income draining coastal areas, strongholds of Assad’s supporters.

In the capital, taxi and public bus drivers staged a second day of work stoppages today, causing traffic chaos. Activists in government-controlled areas have also issued secret calls for a general strike.

State media makes no mention of the protests.

Syria has raised the prices of gasoline and other oil products again, officials and state media said yesterday, as the government gradually removes subsidies to shore up public finances.

The increases came into effect after midnight yesterday as the government announced a 100% increase in civil servant wages and pensions.

However, the increase in wages in the public sector lags behind inflation, which continues to escalate along with the decline of the hryvnia.

Officials have been saying for the past two years that phasing out large bread and gasoline subsidies and replacing them with a smart card-based rationing system will improve the corrupt and wasteful supply chain and reduce chronic shortages.

They have said the rationing system is effective for those who really need it and will help the poorest in a country where wages and subsidies make up the vast majority of government spending.

File photo