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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Campaigning Wraps Up for Syria Vote Set to Sweep Assad Back to Power |
| 2014-06-02 |
| [An Nahar] Syria on Sunday wrapped up campaigning for the June 3 presidential election expected to return Bashir al-Assad to power, a vote the opposition brands a "parody of democracy." With swathes of Syria out of government control, Tuesday's vote will only take place in regime-held territory, far from where Assad's forces are battling the rebels who seek to topple him. The fragmented opposition, and their Western and Arab allies, will be left to watch powerlessly as the ballot returns Assad to power for a third seven-year term while the army makes advances on the battlefield. Assad's opponents have dubbed the vote a "parody of democracy" and urged Syrians to boycott the vote in which Assad's sole competitors -- MP Maher al-Hajjar and businessman Hassan al-Nouri -- are little known and seen as token rivals. On Sunday, the ruling Baath Party, which has dominated Syria for more than half a century, called for people to re-elect Assad. The president was chosen by referendum in 2000 following the death of his father and veteran strongman, president Hafez Assad. |
| Posted by:Fred |