The current President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, won the presidential elections. According to TASS, their results were officially announced by the chairman of the People’s Council (parliament) of the country, Hammuda Sabag.
“The election was won by incumbent President Bashar al-Assad, who received the support of 95.1% of voters,” Sabag said at a press conference in Damascus. It was broadcast by the Al Ekhbariya TV channel.
According to him, the voter turnout was 78%. More than 14 million citizens came to the polling stations. The speaker noted that the Syrians showed “a high level of consciousness that surpassed all expectations.” He stressed that “the Syrians have shown that they are determined to face dangerous challenges and have written another glorious page in the history of their country.”
The elections took place on May 26. In addition to Assad, they were attended by the Secretary-General of the opposition Democratic Front Mahmoud Ahmad Murai and a member of the Socialist Unionist Party, former Minister of People’s Assembly, Abdullah Sallum Abdullah. They got one and a half and 3.3% of the votes, respectively.
In total, 51 applications were submitted to participate in the elections. 48 of them were rejected by the Supreme Constitutional Court of Syria due to “inconsistency with constitutional and legal norms.”
In mid-March, Britain, Germany, Italy, France and the United States refused to recognize the upcoming presidential elections in Syria as fair.
The term of office of the President of Syria is seven years. The previous elections were held in 2014. Then Assad received the support of 88.7% of voters. Prior to that, he won elections in 2007 and 2000. As head of state, he replaced his father Hafez Assad, who ruled Syria for 30 years.
Bashar al-Assad is the general secretary of the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party, which has been in power in Syria since 1963.
