Syrian parliament to announce date of presidential elections next week

Source: 
Al Bawaba News
Publication date: 
Apr 15 2014

Syria's parliament will announce the date of the country's presidential election to be held this year despite the country's ongoing civil war, according to Agence France Presse Tuesday.

 Syria's Al Watan newspaper stated that the speaker of the country's parliament Mohamed Jihad Lahham will announce the exact date of the vote which is expected to be held around June.

 President Bashar Assad's seven-year term expires on July 17.

 Referendums in the past have been used to elect the country's leader, but Syria's new constitution passed in 2012 requires elections to be held to vote for the country's leader.

 Assad has "all but officially said" that he will run again for the presidency and regulations have been put in place to prevent the opposition from running against him.

 Syria's proposed election has received tremendous scrutiny from the international community as such polls are likely to further hamper efforts for peace talks between the regime and the opposition leadership.

 It is still "unclear" as to how Damascus will actually conduct the vote, since many areas of the country are now beyond government control due to the civil war that has left at least 150,000 dead and millions of others displaced from their homes.

 

Fuente/Source: http://www.albawaba.com/conflict-syria/syria-election-569138