Assad Points Another Overwhelming Electoral Victory

The election authority declared Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a resounding victory in Tuesday’s election, held in the middle of a civil war that is ravaging the country. The result was as spectacular as expected: 88.7 % for president, 4.3% for the Liberal candidate Hasan Nuri and 3.2 % for the Communist Hayad Maher. After hearing the result on Wednesday night, hundreds of people took to the streets of Damascus to celebrate the result with rockets, flags and shooting. It is the first time the head of state to an election is presented with alternative candidates. Chairs republic of Syria since his father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, died in 2000. Assad urged Syrians to refrain from firing into the air to celebrate as rooted custom in the Middle East. Reelected president warned that ” the joy of victory does not justify threatening the lives of civilians.”

The Syrian civil war that sweeps since 2011 has claimed more than 160,000 lives, most of them civilians. Big Hos and historic cities like Aleppo, as well as substantial portions of the capital, Damascus, are devastated. The conflict has already left nearly 10 million people homeless, of which three million have fled the country. Although far from control throughout the country, the regime has taken crucial enclaves such as Homs and its adjacent territories. The old metropolis has turned entire neighborhoods into rubble. In the capital regular discharges of heavy artillery, which punishes the rebellious suburbs bags are heard. The insurgents, meanwhile, bombarded government neighborhoods with a drip of mortars indiscriminately kill pedestrians, motorists soldiers or schoolchildren.

Tuesday’s election garnered international criticism. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki -Moon called on the government not to hold elections and to seek ” a political solution ” to the serious conflict.

Assad, whose image adorns storefronts, lampposts and buildings towers across the country, said a few months ago that his generals perceived a “turning point ” in the war, which two years ago was in favor of the rebels. Divided and facing each other, factions lose ground and credibility with some Syrians exhausted by two years of destruction.

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Posted by Khalil Khan on Jun 6 2014. Filed under Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.