DAMASCUS: The Syrian President Bashar Assad hasdeclared his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled to be held across the country on June 3, the speaker of parliament Muhammed al-Lahham said on Monday.
“I, citizen Bashar Hafez al-Assad, wish to present my candidacy for the post of president of the republic,” said a letter read in parliament by Lahham.
Assad, who has ruled the country since taking over from his father in 2000, is widely expected to win a third seven-year term in office.
The opposition activists and the West have criticized the balloting, saying it will only exacerbate Syria’s three-year civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people and forced millions from their homes.
Six other contenders are in the race, but they are mostly expected to give the election a veneer of legitimacy.
