HUGE masses of people took to the streets just after Speaker of the People”s Assembly, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, announced that Dr. Bashar Hafez al-Assad has won the post of president of The Syrian Arab Republic for a new constitutional term.
Demonstrations celebrating the victory were held across the country. Election centres had been opened Tuesday at 7am for Syrian citizens across the country to cast their ballots in the presidential elections.
Syrian citizens flocked to the election centres to cast their votes and choose a president for the country for the next seven years. The presidential elections in Syria are the first pluralistic election process based on the new Constitution of Syria which was endorsed in 2012.
The number of the election centres throughout the Syrian provinces was 9601, and they included 11776 ballot boxes.
The three candidates, Maher Abdel-Hafiz Hajjar, Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri and Bashar al-Assad, were competing in the presidential elections after the Supreme Judicial Court accepted their applications to run for the post of president on May 10.
Covering the presidential elections in Syria were more than 200 mass media representatives, including from news agencies, TV, radio stations and newspapers from various countries in the world, including from Western countries.
The election centres in the Syrian provinces witnessed a massive turnout as the citizens headed to cast their votes. The Syrian citizens also rushed to the ballot boxes at the crossing points on the Syrian-Lebanese borders, in order to participate in the presidential elections.
At the election centres members of the election committee made sure that IDs belong to the voters carrying them, and then the committee handed them a sealed envelope with one paper inside containing the names and photos of the three candidates.
Voters then entered a secret room for choosing a candidate, putting down any sign on the chosen candidate’s space and then he/she re-placed the paper inside the envelope and cast it in the ballot box.
From the first hour of launching the presidential elections, Aleppo residents rushed to polling stations spread in different districts of the Province to choose ‘the best for leading great Syria’, adding ‘terrorists’ threats do not horrify us.’
Heads of the election centres in Aleppo said that Aleppo witnessed wide turnout as the citizens flocked to cast their votes and choose their candidate to run the post of the President from the early hour in the morning.
Citizens in Lattakia said: ‘Our participation in the elections embodies the aspirations of the Syrian people in making Syria safe and countering terrorism.’
Displaced citizens in Lattakia, after their casting ballots, said: ‘The Syrians are stronger than to accept submitting to foreign pressures . . . we have chosen the candidate that we consider able to eliminate terrorism,’ stressing that they will come back to their towns as soon as possible and start the process of reconstruction.
Citizens of Jaramana city in Damascus Countryside flocked to the election centres to take part in the elections, ‘Our participation in the presidential elections is a victory for Syria over its enemies and terrorism.’
Qalamoun area residents said that: ‘We will vote for the candidate who will lead Syria to the safe side and secure the future of our sons.’
Citizens in the villages of the eastern al-Ghota rushed to the election centres to cast their ballots to choose their candidate to run for the post of the President.
Residents of Hama flocked to the election centres to choose a candidate to run for the post of the President, asserting their determination to practice their constitutional duty in a way that copes with their aspirations towards the future of Syria.
Residents of Deir-Ezzor headed densely for polling stations in their city for choosing a candidate for presidency, stressing that their votes are ‘weapons in the face of terrorism’.
Populous turnout of Tartous residents heading to ballot boxes to vote for a president they trust for consolidating Syria’s sovereignty and eradicating terrorism. The displaced citizens residing in Tartous said: ‘We practice our right and duty in voting for a candidate we believe that he will regain stability and security to the whole Syrian soil and eradicate terrorism, and then we will be able turn back to our cities and homes.’
Voters in Idleb stressed that they are electing in a free atmosphere, underlining that terrorists’ threats will not prevent them from practicing their right of choosing a president for their country.
Sweida residents said: ‘Our votes represent a bright image of the Syrians’ ability to exercise democracy.’
Meanwhile, Syrian citizens headed to the five elections centres deployed in Homs countryside on the Syrian-Lebanese borders. Governor of Homs, Talal al-Barazi said that 4,000 Syrian citizens crossed the borders to take part in the presidential elections from the early hours of the morning.
Citizens of al-Quneitra flocked to the ballot boxes to cast their votes and choose their candidate to run for the post of the President. The number of the voters in the province reached 200,000.
There were about 144 election centres for the locals of the province, from which 99 centres were dedicated for those living in Damascus and its countryside, 36 centres for those in al-Quneitra and nine centres for those living in Daraa province.
Residents of Daraa province gathered at the election centres to participate in the presidential elections, expressing determination to choose the president who will rebuild the renewable Syria and eliminate terrorism.
In Hasaka, the voting centres witnessed huge turnout of citizens, with many officials casting their votes in the province. Many voters said that the elections stress the fact that the Syrians are a democratic people that does not bow to pressures and is able to determine the leader and future of the homeland.
They stressed their participation is a gesture of loyalty to the sacrifices made by the Syrian army in defence of Syria Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister Dr. Hamed Hassan said the voting for president has delivered a slap in the face of the countries who have been supporting terrorism in Syria.
The Syrian people got a message across that the Syrian people stand undivided, together with their army and leadership, until security and stability are restored, he added.
Hassan was speaking during his meeting on Wednesday with a delegation comprising members of the Syrian community in Kuwait. Some countries, including Kuwait and the UK, have banned the voting on their own territory, prompting Syrian community members there to run flights to Syria to cast their votes in an act of defiance.
The delegation members, for their part, underscored support to their homeland, army and armed forces against the fierce war waged against their own country.
Dr. Wael Nasser, who was at the top of the delegation, said the delegation came to Syria to carry out a national duty in casting their votes in the landmark elections and, he added, to congratulate the Syrian people whose steadfastness is bearing fruit.
‘Were the community to secure more airplanes, you would have seen thousands of Syrians coming from Kuwait to vote,’ he said.
The international delegation who observed the presidential elections in Syria issued a statement on Wednesday following a meeting, affirming that the elections were held as scheduled and conducted in a democratic, transparent, and fair manner as per the constitution and the general elections law.
The delegations, which include MPs, representative of civil organisations, and independent figures, said that the elections were held for the first time in Syria’s history, and in a competitive atmosphere with input from various political sides in a free and democratic manner, laying the foundations of a new stage of political life in the country.
The statement said that the government’s work for organising the elections and the people’s determination to vote despite security threats posed by terrorists are commendable, with the Syrians’ participation showing that they prefer the political solution over any violence-based solution.
The statement also called on the countries supporting terrorism in Syria to cease their actions, and called on their countries’ governments to respect the results of the elections and support the Syrians’ choice and will, adding that some states’ decision to prevent Syrian expatriates from voting is a violation of human rights and democratic values.
The delegations hoped that Syria will recover its safety and stability and begin rebuilding, thanking the People’s Assembly, the Higher Constitutional Court, and the Higher Judicial Committee for Elections for allowing them to keep up with the elections on the ground.
During the meeting preceding the statement, Chairman for the Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran Alaeddin Boroujerdi said that he and the other delegations’ members can testify from what they saw that the elections were free and saw heavy participation of voters, sending a clear message to those who imposed the crisis on Syria.
Boroujerdi said the Syrians, despite all the escalation against them, sent a clear message in the elections to the US and the Zionist entity who support terrorism, noting the hypocrisy of the US and Europe who boast of democracy and freedom and yet prevented Syrians from voting.
He stressed that everyone must respect the Syrians’ choice, and that those who oppose it are enemies of democracy and freedom, adding that the Syrians withstood suffering, tragedies, embargos, and attempts to isolate them, with President Bashar al-Assad standing alongside his people during the most difficult conditions.
In turn, member of the Russian State Duma Alexey Alexandrov said that the elections in Syria were legal, legitimate, democratic, competitive, and fair, constituting a historic moment and having considerable political significance on an international level.
Alexandrov said that he and the accompanying delegation visited more than ten voting centres in Damascus and other cities, and the only comments he has on the elections are merely technical observations.
He also pointed out that Russia worked hard in the past year to circumvent the hostile plots of some western countries which were intent on destroying Syria.
