'..the fall of Mr. Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000. Such demands, uttered publicly, were once unheard of..'<blockquote>'In a possible sign of cracks in the government’s facade, two members of Syria’s largely powerless Parliament resigned on Saturday. Khalil al-Rifai and Nasser al-Hariri, independent lawmakers from Dara’a, where the uprising started, told Al Jazeera that they were resigning in protest of the killing of demonstrators.
Wissam Tarif, the executive director of Insan, a human rights group, said that security forces fired at mourners after they buried their dead. The funerals soon became protests, replete with calls for the fall of Mr. Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000. Such demands, uttered publicly, were once unheard of and served as a marker of the degree to which fear has crumbled in the repressive state.'
- Anthony Shadid,
Syrian Security Forces Fire on Mourners in Several Towns, April 23, 2011