Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad won a 4th term with 95.1% of the vote

[JoanofArgh]

Last edited Thu May 27, 2021, 06:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Wow, what a popular guy!

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office with 95.1% of votes in an election that will extend his rule over a country ruined by war but which opponents and the West say was marked by fraud.


Head of parliament Hammouda Sabbagh announced the result in a news conference on Thursday, saying voter turn out was at around 78%.

The election went ahead despite a U.N.-led peace process that had called for voting under international supervision that would help pave the way for a new constitution and a political settlement.

The win delivers Assad 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.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrias-president-bashar-al-assad-wins-fourth-term-office-with-951-votes-live-2021-05-27/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=twitter

[Lovie777]

1. Sounds like Russia . ....

it's a farce.

[JoanofArgh]

3. It is a farce. Dictatorship through fraudulent elections .

[obnoxiousdrunk]

2. Saddam Hussien used

to win his with 98.6 % of the vote.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. And, The Other 4.9% Is Either...

...made up to fake election integrity, or 4.9% of 78% are about to endure a living hell.

[eissa]

5. My FB is full of Syrians posting his pic with joy

They're so happy he "won." It's pathetically sad. But I'm part of a minority Christian community from the region, so the family I have there - like most religious minorities - are happy when any secular politician wins. Their argument is "if we're going to be ruled over by a tyrant, at least make it one that only kills us for our political beliefs, not religious/racial identity." Easier to avoid being slaughtered when you just need to keep your mouth shut. Not much you can do about your ethnic or religious affiliations.

[JoanofArgh]

6. Very true.

[uponit7771]

11. +1

[moondust]

7. Will he clean up the mess he and Pooty made?

That'll teach 'em for wanting to replace a dictator with representative government.

[eissa]

8. I don't think Islamic fundamentalist groups

qualify as "representative government." Assad is a brutal dictator, no question about that. The alternatives weren't much better. There weren't exactly many democratically-leaning, secular options waiting in the wings. Those that were in that group were most likely operating outside of the country, and had few (if any) boots on the ground, so not sure how they thought they could have taken power if Assad was toppled.

[moondust]

10. If it turned out to be truly representative

then at least there could be some representation from some or all of these:

Muslim minority groups
Kurds (most Syrian Kurds are Sunni)
Arabic-speaking or Turkmen Alawis[4]
Arabic-speaking Druzes
Arabic-speaking Ismailis
Arabic-speaking (Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi) and Iranian Twelver Shias
Sunni Muslim (and also Christian) Palestinians
Sunni and Alevi Turkmens
Sunni Circassians
Sunni Muslim Greeks
Muslim Ossetians[5][6]
Black people of Yarmouk Basin

Christian minority groups
Arabic-speaking Christians (Greek-Orthodox, Greek-Catholics, Maronites and a part of the Syrian Catholics)
Assyrians (Catholics) and Syriacs (Orthodox)
Armenians

Other groups
Romani people of various creeds
Jews
Yazidis are an ethno-religious group and Yezidism (Sharfadin) is one of the oldest Religion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_Syria

A tyrannical secular dictator is no better than a tyrannical religious dictator.

[Takket]

9. uh huh. sure, assad