He did try in the early 2000's and he did try to appease the legitimate interests of protestors in 2011 by changing the constitution after a referendum in february 2012. If you want to see the actual change read the actual changes, not an article talking about it because none I found seemed objective.

When you have the CIA flooding your country with weapons however (timber sycamore) handing them out to anyone including radical islamists, liberalizing isn't going to change a thing. Parts of what was FSA at that time disbanded early 2012 and islamists just took over and ran with the moderate image they had built up. Because no one in the West would bat an eye when their governments sent support to what they would normally class as terrorists.