Syria’s long-standing president Bashar al-Assad is poised for a victory in the just-concluded elections. The US, an arch-critic of the Syrian regime, is not impressed, and has denounced the Syrian presidential elections as “a disgrace.” “Detached from reality and devoid of political participation, the Assad regime’s staged election today continued a 40-year family legacy of violent suppression that brutally crushes political dissent and fails to fulfill Syrians’ aspirations for peace and prosperity,” said Marie Harf, spokesperson of the State Department in Washington on June 4.
The conflict-torn Syria opened its presidential polls in the government-held areas on June 3. The election is a first multi-candidate election since 1963, the year when the Ba’ath Party came to power in Syria. However, the presence of other two candidates —- Maher Hajjar and Hassan al-Nouri — is being dubbed as a farce because their election campaigns stand nowhere before that of Assad’s.
While the election was pilloried by the opposition in the “liberated” areas, Assad’s supporters were steeped in merry-making and fanfare, clearly indicating that the besieged Syrian leader is going to come back for a third seven-year term as the president of the violence-beset West Asian nation. Many supporters chose to mark the ballot paper with blood to showcase their patriotism and dedication towards the Assad regime.
Pro-democracy protests erupted in Syria 2011 and the unrest continues till date. Almost 150,000 people, according to an estimate, have been killed in the conflict and more than three million have been displaced.
The polls have closed on midnight June 3 and the results are due to be declared soon. Assad’s near-certain victory will perpetuate the rule of the Ba’ath Party which has held Syria in its iron-clad fist for the past six decades.
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