| Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Qatif Region حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي - القطيف المنطقة | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Regional Secretary | Khaled al-Zaidi |
| Assistant Regional Secretary | Zayd Hossaini |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Preceded by | Ba'ath Party |
| Headquarters | Tuwaiq |
| Newspaper | Qatifi Courier |
| Student wing | Revolutionary Student Union |
| Ideology |
Qatifi Ba'athism Statism Qatifi nationalism Secularism Authoritarianism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Official colours |
Pan-Arab colours Green |
| Anthem | Anthem of the Ba'ath Party |
| National Assembly |
136 / 238 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Qatif Region (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي - القطيف المنطقة; Hizb Al-Baath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki fi Al-Qaṭīf) is the current ruling political party of Qatif. It has ruled Qatif since 1961, although has only allowed democracy in the country since the Arab Spring.
Originally the regional command of the wider Ba'ath Party the Ba'ath Party played an important role in Qatif's early parliamentary politics. In 1961 the party led by Nasser bin Mutaib headed a leftist coalition that came into conflict with the Sultan Al-Qa'im ibn al-Aziz ibn Mohammed al-Tahir. This prompted unrest in Qatif that ended after a military coup led by Mustafa al-Karim displaced the Sultan and created an Arab Republic. Bin Mutaib was replaced by Omar Hakim who transferred the position of regional secretary to al-Karim, with Hakim becoming the de jure ideologue of the Ba'ath party when in reality al-Karim controlled the party completely. The National Command of the Ba'ath Party were somewhat unwilling to support the new idealogical deviations made by the Qatifi Ba'ath Party. Under al-Karim the Qatifi branch shed much of their previous Pan-Arab philosophy, instead advocating for al-Karim's own political philosophy, which he coined Qatifi Ba'athism. Following the B'athist split the Qatifi branch supported neither the Pro-Iraqi nor the pro-Syrian factions, although it remained strongly linked too and influenced by the Syrian branch. al-Karim's successor Abdullah Rajab halted most of the Qatifi branches socialist policies, with the party becoming in practice more populist then strictly left or right wing. Following the Arab Spring the Ba'ath party has had to contend with political opposition, although it has mostly been able to retain power partly thanks to its strong voter base among the urban class of Qatif, especially women.
In 2015 the Ba'ath party lost the presidential election to Islamist Abdulaziz Al-Qazwini - however a year later they were returned to power after a coup d'état led by secret police chief Khaled al-Zaidi who was appointed as the leader of the party.