Syrians go to polls in election ‘charade’

Waving photos of their leader and dancing with flags, tens of thousands of Syrians pledged renewed allegiance to President Bashar al-Assad as they voted across government-controlled parts of the country in a presidential election decried by the opposition as a charade.

Even as crowds of Assad’s supporters flocked to the polls in Damascus, the sounds of war were inescapable.

The dull sounds of explosions reverberated in the distance as pro-government forces and rebels battled in nearby rural towns and ashy plumes of grey smoke marked the skyline. Several mortar hits were reported in the capital, though the voting was largely peaceful.

Some stamped their ballots with blood after pricking their fingers with pins supplied by the government in a symbolic act of allegiance and patriotism. Others chose to vote in full sight of others and television cameras rather than go behind a partition curtain for privacy.

Men and women wore lapel pins with Assad’s picture and said re-electing him would give the Syrian leader more legitimacy to find a solution to the devastating three-year conflict that activists say has killed more than 160,000 people, about a third of whom were civilians.

The balloting is only taking place in government-controlled areas and Assad’s win — all but a foregone conclusion — would give him a third seven-year term in office, tighten his hold on power, and further strengthen his determination to crush the insurgency against him.

The opposition’s Western and regional allies, including the US, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, have called the vote a sham. The so-called internal Syrian opposition groups seen as more lenient are also boycotting the vote, while many activists around the country are referring to it as “blood elections” for the horrific toll the country has suffered.

The vote is Syria’s first multi-candidate presidential election in more than 40 years and is being touted by the government as a referendum measuring Syrians’ support for Assad. He faces two government-approved challengers in the race, Maher Hajjar and Hassan al-Nouri, both of whom were little known before declaring their candidacy in April.