The MED This Week newsletter provides expert analysis and informed insights on the most significant developments in the MENA region, bringing together unique opinions on the topic and reliable foresight on future scenarios. Today, we focus on Syria, which holds a controversial presidential election on May 26th, denounced by human rights groups and Western governments alike as a farce with a foregone conclusion.
On May 26th, Syrians are called to vote for the second presidential elections in the country since the outbreak of the civil war. While two other candidates (among the 51 who applied to run for presidency) met the eligibility requirements, the balance of the electoral process appears to be so tipped in President Bashar al-Assad’s favour that neither of them is believed to pose a serious threat. In particular, the condition whereby a presidential candidate must have continuously lived in Syria during the ten years prior to an election has prevented members of the Syrian opposition, currently in exile, from running for office. Meanwhile, since voting will take place in government-controlled areas only, would-be voters living in the last rebel-held strongholds in Idlib and northeast Syria are prevented from expressing their electoral preference. As such, this electoral process stands in stark contrast to UN Resolution 2254, which calls for an inclusive, Syrian-led political process that requires a transitional governing body, a new constitution, and UN-supervised elections. Still, the Geneva peace talks have barely gotten off the ground, raising doubts that Damascus stalled to ensure Assad could win the upcoming election under the country’s current constitution. Unsurprisingly, Western governments have expressed their opposition to the presidential vote in Syria, discrediting it to nothing more than a “sham”, while Russia — Assad’s main supporter — has denounced their criticism as interference in Damascus’ domestic affairs.
Experts from the ISPI MED network react to today’s presidential election in Syria.
