Beirut, May 24, 2021: Wednesday will see Bashar al-Assad, whose family has ruled over Syria for over half a century, “contest” an election meant to cement his image as the only hope for recovery of a country ravaged by civil war since the past decade.
This is the second election in the country since the war started in 2011 and this time Assad’s campaign slogan is “Hope through Work”, meant to evoke support for reco`nstruction of war torn Syria. The civil; war has left over 380,000 dead and had displaced more than half of its pre-war population. The streets and squares of the capital Damascus were lined with portraits of Assad over the weekend and were the pre-dominant electioneering tool visible over those of his two little known opponents.
Analysts say the poll results are likely a victory for Assad and according to Fabrice Balanche, a political analyst, “Syrians will vote to pledge allegiance to Assad and to the system, by holding elections on a regular basis, Assad is attempting to prove “that Syrian institutions are functioning.” Experts agree the poll is all but certain to deliver victory in a fourth term for a president already in power since 21 years.
The elections have been slammed by western democracies who say it is a sham, neither fair nor free since it will be held exclusively in parts of the country under regime control. An ophthalmologist by profession, Assad was elected first in a referendum in the year 2000 after the death of his father Hafez who himself ruled over Syria for 30 years.
The election is due to take place on the 26 of May and will see Assad contest against two challengers nominated out of 51 applicants pre-approved by the constitutional court elected by Assad himself. All opposition figures have automatically been ruled out since the law stipulates presence of the contesting candidates in the country for a continuous period of a decade. The rival candidates are former state minister Abdallah Salloum Abdallah and a member of the supposedly tolerated opposition, Mahmoud Merhi who exiled opposition leaders describe an extension of the regime itself.
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