Syria's Assad named winner of 'farcical' election

DAMASCUS

Bashar al-Assad has been declared as Syrian president after winning a third term with 88.7 percent of the votes in Tuesday's presidential election, the parliament head said Wednesday.

The voter turnout was at 73.42 percent, as some 11.6 million Syrians out of 15.8 million eligible voters cast their ballots, Speaker Mohammad al-Laham said.

The other two candidates, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher al-Hajjar, received 4.7 and 3.2 percent of the votes respectively.

Critics have dismissed the poll -- held only in government-controlled areas -- as a ‘farce, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling it "a great big zero."

Syria has been gripped in an ongoing civil war since 2011, which has killed over 100,000 people and displaced close to half of the 22-million population, according to the U.N.

Meanwhile, seven people were reported killed after regime forces opened celebratory gunfire following the announcement of the results, according to the opposition group Syrian Revolution General Commission.

The group said the gunfire wounded scores of people, including a journalist working for China’s Xinhua news agency.

‘Election sketch’

A team of international observers -- all from Assad allies such as Russia, North Korea, and Iran -- have said the election was seamless.

“Voting has been held in a transparent, fair and democratic way, reflecting the free will of the people who used their legitimate rights,” the delegations were quoted as saying by the Syrian state news agency, SANA.

But a Syrian opposition figure said the vote was to help Assad legitimize his embattled rule.

“With the election sketch it performed, the regime might seek a platform of legitimacy, but its bonds with the Syrian people have already and completely broken apart,” Khaled Hodja -- spokesperson for Istanbul-based Syrian National Coalition -- told the AA Wednesday.

“After failing to get its legitimacy from the people, the regime, by inviting so-called observers to monitor the voting, tried to project an image that suggested the election was held in a democratic way,” Hodja said.

Monitors from Iran would fail to convince the international community on the election’s validity, he added.

An opposition media outlet published a video footage on Wednesday showing regime supporters allegedly casting votes on behalf of others who were sending their personal identification details by phone.

The pro-opposition Siraj Press claimed that regime members forced citizens and public officers to cast votes.

aa.com.tr/en