The Syrian National Coalition – Syrian opposition's umbrella group – elected Saudi Arabia-based opposition figure Hadi al-Bahra as its new president on Wednesday.
Bahra was elected with 62 votes at an early morning voting in Istanbul, according to a statement issued by the coalition.
Bahra succeeds Ahmad Jarba, who was often criticized for failing to unite the opposition and get significant Western military support in their bid to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Jarba had led the coalition since July 2013.
Bahra’s rivals Muwaffaq Nirabiya and Walid Al-Omari got 41 and 3 votes respectively, the statement said.
During the vote, Abdul Hakim Basharis was elected as the vice president of the coalition.
Born in Damascus in 1959, Bahra is a businessman backed by Saudi Arabia, where he spent much of his adult life.
The Syrian National Coalition is a coalition of opposition factions fighting in the Syrian civil war. The group was founded in Doha, Qatar, in November 2012 to set up an inclusive leadership for the opposition.
www.aa.com.tr/en
