2014 presidential election in Syria

Omnipresent election posters for incumbent President Assad

Presidential elections were held in Syria on June 3, 2014 . It was the first presidential election in Syria's history that allowed multiple candidates to run, but the election took place in the shadow of the civil war and was therefore criticized internationally. For the Syrians abroad (Syria has the largest refugee population in the world due to the war), the election took place several days in advance in the embassies.

There were observers from more than 30 countries including Bolivia , Brazil , Canada , Cuba , Ecuador , India , Iran , Iraq , Nicaragua , Russia , South Africa , Uganda and Venezuela . They felt that the choice was "free, fair and transparent". However, it was reported that there was no independent election observation at all. The Arab League , the Gulf Cooperation Council , the European Union and the United States called the election illegitimate. The attempt to hold the election amid the ongoing civil war was criticized by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon .

Syrians abroad / refugees

The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Ban Ki-moon warned that "such elections incompatible with the spirit of due to the ongoing civil war and a large-scale movement of refugees Syrian citizens Geneva are communiqués" and "prospects for a political settlement with the opposition damage" would .

The 2.5 million refugees and their eligibility to vote led to several controversies in the run-up to the election. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons who did not leave Syria across the border were excluded from the election.

Belgium , Canada, Egypt , France , Germany , Saudi Arabia , Turkey , the United Arab Emirates and the United States banned the holding of elections in the Syrian embassies. In the Lebanese capital Beirut , where up to 1.1 million Syrian refugees live, the streets were paralyzed as a large number of refugees and foreigners who had previously lived in Lebanon wanted to vote in the embassy.

boycott

The Syrian opposition boycotted the election - the election did not take place in those areas under the control of insurgents. In Western Kurdistan or Syrian Kurdistan , the Palestinian Authority did not approve the holding of the election, although some Kurds traveled to government-controlled areas to cast their votes.

Some rebel groups intended to disrupt the elections in any possible way, including bombing and demolishing voting booths in government-controlled areas. A statement issued by the Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union , the Sham Corps , the Mujahideen Army and the Islamic Front stated that these four groups did not “attack voters, but warned people to stay at home if the Syrian government does ". There were over 50 recorded deaths from insurgent attacks.

procedure

Women voting

According to the new constitution , it was the first choice with multiple candidates. A law passed by the Syrian parliament in spring 2014 allows only people who have lived in Syria for the past ten years to stand for election, preventing politicians in exile from running.

On April 8, the Syrian Minister of Information, Omran Zoabi , announced that candidates would be able to submit their applications within the last ten days of April. Zoabi insisted that despite the ongoing civil war, the election should go according to plan and not be postponed for any reason. Zoabi also claimed that the “overwhelming majority” of Syrians would like the incumbent Bashar al-Assad to be re-elected. He also claimed that the government's military operations would continue despite the election.

Candidates

A total of 24 applicants, including 2 women and a Christian , submitted applications for the presidency to the Supreme Constitutional Court. Of these, however, apart from the incumbent Assad, only two candidates met the conditions for running, including the support of at least 35 members of parliament. The other two “selected” candidates were seen as unknown, mostly symbolic challengers.

Bashar al-Assad , incumbent and chairman of the Ba'ath Party

Hassan Abdullah al-Nuri , of the National Initiative for Administration and Change , a 54-year-old MP from Damascus

Maher Abd al-Hafiz Hajar of the People's Will Party of Kadri Jamil , a 43-year-old MP from Aleppo . His party won only two of 250 seats in the 2012 general election , while its allied Syrian Social Nationalist Party won another four. The party's low number of MPs indicates that most of its nominations would have to come from either independent candidates or from the National Progress Front. In a statement on April 27, the People's Will Party distanced itself from Hajjar, stating that Hajjar was no longer a member of the People's Will Party or the Popular Front for Change and Freedom and that he was only representing himself.

Photos of the three candidates in a polling station

The 21 applicants who did not meet the candidate criteria are:

Sawsan Omar al-Haddad, born in 1963 in Latakia Governorate (woman)

Samir Ahmad Mo'alla, born in 1961 in Quneitra Governorate

Mohammad Firas Yassin Radschuh, born in Damascus in 1966

Abdul-Salam Yussef Salameh was born in 1971 in Homs Governorate

Ali Mohammad Wannus, born 1973 in Homs

Azza Mohammad Wajih al-Hallaq, born in Damascus in 1962 (woman)

Talie Saleh Nasser, born in Kafrin in 1967

Samih Michael Musa, born 1963 in Btaiha ( Christian )

Mahmud Chalil Halbuni, born in Harasta in 1946

Mohammad Hassan al-Kanaan, born in al-Sanamayn in 1964

Chaled Abdo al-Kreidi, born in al-Al in 1966

Baschir Mohammad al-Balah, born in Damascus in 1931

Ahmad Hassun al-Abbud, born in al-Mayadin in 1962

Aiman Shamdin al-Issa Alam, born in 1967 in al-Husseinyeh

Ziad Adnan Hakawati, born in Damascus in 1955

Ahmad Ali Qsei'eh, born in Jabaq in 1951

Mahmud Mohammad Nassr, born in Zahiriye in 1969

Ali Hassan al-Hassan, born in Deir Saras in 1965

Ahmad Omar Dabba, born in Tazeh Schamaliye in 1969

Mahmud Nadschi Mussa, born in Tadmur in 1950

Hossein Mohammad Tidschan, born in Aleppo in 1961

Result

There were more invalid votes and blank slips than votes for the third-placed candidate Hajar.

Madsched Chadra, the spokesman for the Supreme Constitutional Court, announced the results on Wednesday June 4th, stating that the losing candidates and individuals would have 3 days to file their complaints about the electoral process. He stated that the court would decide on the final result 7 days after the end of the three-day submission period and then announce the name of the declared winner on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament. On that day, parliament speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham also announced the first results.

candidate		Political party	be right	proportion of
	Bashar al-Assad	Ba'ath Party	10,319,723	88.7%
	Hassan al-Nuri	NIACS	500.279	4.3%
	Maher Hajjar	People's Will Party	372,301	3.2%
Invalid / blank notes			442.108	3.8%
total			11,634,412	100%
Registered voters / turnout			15,845,575	73.42%
Source:

Reactions

Ignatius Ephrem II Karim - the Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrian Orthodox Church - declared that the success of the presidential elections in Syria and the victory of President Bashar al-Assad is a victory for all honest Syrian citizens. In a letter of congratulation, Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem II Karim expressed his warmest congratulations to President Assad and asked God to help him and guide him in his work.

The Friends of Syria - disapproved of the election, stating that it was extraordinary and that it was detrimental to the premise behind the Geneva peace talks. The friends also questioned the rigor of the election as millions of displaced Syrians were unable to vote.

Individual evidence

↑ Indian Delegation to monitor Syria election on June 3. KohraM, accessed June 8, 2014 .

↑ International observers say Syrian elections were transparent. laInfo.es, June 4, 2014, accessed June 8, 2014 .

↑ Arab League criticizes Syrian election plan

↑ GCC slams Syrian elections as 'farce' ( Memento from June 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

↑ ^a ^b Syrian election will undermine political solution: UN's Ban. Mobile.reuters.com, accessed June 4, 2014 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c Syrian expats in Lebanon flock to vote for Assad. CBS News, May 29, 2014, accessed May 29, 2014 .

↑ Wladimir van Wilgenburg: Syria's Kurdish region to boycott presidential elections. (No longer available online.) Al-Monitor, archived from the original on June 7, 2014 ; Retrieved June 8, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ Syrians flee as rebels vow to wreck poll. The Times, June 3, 2014, accessed June 8, 2014 .

^ Edward Dark: Rebels shell Aleppo as Syria votes. al-Monitor, accessed June 8, 2014 .

↑ ^a ^b Presidential candidacy to open this month: minister | News, Middle East. The Daily Star , accessed June 4, 2014 .

↑ Syrian presidential election will not be delayed - minister. (No longer available online.) Swissinfo.ch, April 8, 2014, archived from the original on April 13, 2014 ; Retrieved June 4, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

^ Assad to face 2 others in Syrian presidential poll. Associated Press, accessed May 4, 2014 .

↑ تصريح ناطق رسمي باسم حزب الإرادة الشعبية - جريدة قاسيون. Kassiounpaper.com, accessed June 4, 2014 .

^ Syria news. (No longer available online.) SANA , April 27, 2014, archived from the original on May 1, 2014 ; Retrieved June 8, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ Supreme Constitutional Court: Number of participants in Presidential elections reached at 11.634.412 with 73.42%. (No longer available online.) SANA, June 4, 2014, archived from the original on June 7, 2014 ; Retrieved June 4, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ Dr. Bashar Hafez al-Assad wins post of President of Syria with sweeping majority of votes at 88.7%. (No longer available online.) In: SANA. June 4, 2014, archived from the original on June 6, 2014 ; Retrieved June 4, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ SANA ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , SANA ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sana.sy @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sana.sy
↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sana.sy
↑ Anti-Assad allies rebuff Syrian presidential election plan | Reuters. Uk.reuters.com, April 3, 2014, accessed June 2014 .