RTThu, 27 May 2021 20:36 UTC
© Louai Beshara/AFPSyrians in Damascus wave national flags and carry a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad on May 27, 2021
President Bashar Assad has been reelected to a fourth term with over 95% of the votes cast, defeating two challengers - including a former senior official of a rebel coalition, Syrian authorities have announced.
Turnout in Wednesday's election was 78%, with Assad winning over 13 million votes, according to Hammouda Sabbagh, speaker of the Syrian legislature.
Mahmoud Ahmad Marei, who previously served as secretary-general of the rebel coalition National Front for the Liberation of Syria, received some 470,276 votes, or 3.1%, while Abdullah Sallum Abdullah of the Socialist Unionist Party came in third with about 213,968 votes, or 1.5%.
The total number of eligible voters was 14,239,140 out of the 18,107,000 Syrians currently inside or outside the country, according to Interior Minister Muhammad al-Rahmoun.
Western powers had denounced the election in advance as "illegitimate" and "neither be free nor fair," arguing that the "Assad regime" was denying the vote to the displaced and the diaspora. While Damascus called the election in accordance with the Syrian constitution, the foreign ministers of the
US, UK, France, Germany and Italy protested it was being held "outside of the framework described in UN Security Council Resolution 2254."Syrians have shot back that the very reason many of their fellow citizens in the diaspora could not vote was
because these governments and their allies had closed down Syrian embassies over the past decade. The five states that condemned the election
have also backed the militants seeking to overthrow the government in Damascus since 2011.The conflict worsened with the emergence of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group that claimed a large portion of the country, until Russia sent an expeditionary force at Assad's request in late 2015.
Syria had invited international election observers from Russia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and Armenia.
Comment: Glimpses into the Syrian election process and public reaction:
Head of Parliament Hammouda Sabbagh announced the result at a news conference on Thursday, saying voter turnout was around 78%.
© ReutersHead of Parliament Hammouda Sabbagh announced the result at a news conference on Thursday, saying voter turnout was around 78%.
The vote was boycotted by the US-backed Kurdish-led forces who administer an autonomous oil-rich region in the northeast and in northwestern Idlib region, the last existing rebel enclave, where people denounced the election in large demonstrations on Wednesday.
The win delivers Assad, 55, seven more years in power and lengthens his family's rule to nearly six decades. His father, Hafez al-Assad, led Syria for 30 years until his death in 2000.
Though Assad's win was not in doubt,
his re-election is likely to deepen the rift with the West and closer to Russia, Iran and China.
© ReutersPoll workers count ballots after polls close during presidential election in Damascus, Syria
May 27, 2021
Damascus erupted in celebrations, with gunfire and fireworks lighting the night sky. Thousands gathered in major squares in Damascus, and the coastal city of Tartus, dancing while waving flags and pictures of Assad. They chanted: "With our soul, blood, we defend you Bashar," and "We only choose three: God, Syria and Bashar."
© AP/Hassan AmmarAssad supporters in Omayyad Square, Damascus
See also:
Syria's Assad wins 4th term with 95% of vote
Comment: Glimpses into the Syrian election process and public reaction: Though Assad's win was not in doubt, his re-election is likely to deepen the rift with the West and closer to Russia, Iran and China. See also: Syria's Assad wins 4th term with 95% of vote