Elections have commenced in Syria, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected in a landslide.
Syria’s parliament speaker, Jihad Lahan, announced the final results from Tuesday’s election, saying Assad garnered 10,319,723 votes, or 88.7%. Laham said Assad’s two challengers, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar, won 4.3% and 3.2% respectively. The supreme constitutional court put turnout at 73.42%.
According to The Guardian, “Assad’s victory was always a foregone conclusion, despite the presence of other candidates on the ballot for the first time in decades. Voting was held only in government-controlled areas, excluding huge tracks of northern and eastern Syria that are in rebel hands. The opposition and its western allies, including the United States, have denounced the election as a farce.”
However, there was a deep controversy over all three cadidates. For those of you who have kept track of the bloody civil war, it’s still a large humanitarian problem. According to CNN, “[The conflict] has left an estimated 150,000 people dead, displaced about 6.5 million within Syria and prompted almost 3 million to flee outside its borders.” These figures demonstrate that the chaos is still rampant in Syria. The old regime, led by Bashar Al Assad, is still in power.
There were three candidates on the ballot:
Bashar Al Assad: Widely considered the favored the win for 3 major reasons:
1. According to the BBC, “Syria has held a presidential election in government-held areas, amid heightened security.” This leads to the fact that Syrians in these areas are more likely to be pro-government. Dissenters are unlikely to be able to live in government controlled areas, and the government has shown no fear in dealing with “troublemakers” before.
2. Bashar Al Assad controls the media. Bashar Al Assad has been able to market his message very well heard, and is on all Syrian television. The other candidates are unable to get their message out, and according to the BBC, many voters only know of one candidate
3. He controls the means of voting. Unfortunately, Bashar Al Assad controls the voting booths. It is easily imaginable that he will ignore the basis of democracy in favor of securing the victory.
In fact, both the US State Department and the British Foreign office have condemned the elections, saying that it will be a “grotesque parody of democracy.” This shows the level of hope that Western leaders have for the dictatorship all but in name.
However, two other candidates have risen to compete with Bashar Al Assad.
Maher Hajjar is a lawyer. He was seen as being less extreme than Assad, but has not campaigned much at all.
On the other hand, Hassan al Nouri is a pragmatic businessman who believes he can attack Assad on social and economic issues. He has claimed to be more “aggressive and effective” than Assad.
However, when asked about the political aspect of Assad’s politics, he has said that “I think he’s doing what he has to do.” This is sorely disappointing, as any successor will continue the fight.
Not much is known about either of these candidates, as it is very hard to get anything from inside Bashar Al Assad’s regime. However, the election shows little variety in the candidates, as all three have shown support for the war. In addition, Bashar Al Assad has an insurmountable advantage over the other two.
This race appeared to be rigged in the favor of the incumbency. It shows the power a dictator can have over a democracy, and the weakness of any opposition. This election has been decided before it started, and is a shadow of democracy.
by Ani Nrusimha
