Syrian state TV reports 89% referendum approval for new constitution

Syrian government said voters have approved a new constitution in a vote that the West has dismissed as "a farce" meant to justify deadly crackdowns on dissent.

Syrian state TV said that 89% of approved the new document while 9% rejected it.

President Bashar Assad has presented the new charter as a step toward reform.

The new constitution allows - at least in theory - for the formation of competing political parties and limits the president to two seven-year terms.

Such change was unthinkable a year ago. Syria has been ruled by the Baath party since it seized power in a coup in 1963 and the Assad family has ruled since Assad's father Hafez took over in another coup in 1970.