Syria Elects Its President
Local Editor
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad voted in Damascus on Tuesday in an election expected to give him a sweeping win over two challengers, state television reported.
"President al-Assad voted in a polling station in Maliki," a residential neighborhood in the city center, the broadcaster said.
The
channel aired still photographs of al-Assad and his wife Asma as they
prepared to cast their votes after filling them in in a curtained booth.
Al-Assad's challengers -- Maher al-Hajjar and Hassan al-Nuri -- both voted earlier in the capital's Sheraton Hotel.
Earlier,
balloting centers opened early on Tuesday for Syrian citizens across
the Syria to cast their ballots in the presidential elections.
The number of the election centers in all Syrian provinces is 9601, and they include 11776 ballot boxes.
However, voting will only take place in government-held territory, with several parts of the country either under militants control or in areas being fought over.
The current election is expected to deliver an overwhelming victory to President Bashar al-Assad, who is facing Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar, a lawmaker from Aleppo, as well as Hassan Abdallah al-Nuri, a legislator from Damascus in the forthcoming presidential race.
The election took place after three years of the war against Syrian, which tens of thousands of people have died and millions more are displaced.
On May 28, Syrian citizens living abroad went to the polls at the Syrian embassies in a number of countries, including Iran, Russia, Yemen, China, Lebanon, Malaysia, Venezuela, Jordan, Sudan, Oman, the Czech Republic, Belarus and India. The voter turnout was reportedly more than 95 percent.
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said the election is an "historic day" for Syria and that a large turnout would "prove to the entire world that the Syrian people have decided and are determined to make the electoral process a success."
Meanwhile, militant groups have warned they will try to disrupt the vote and the so-called Syrian National Coalition is boycotting it.
Recently, Syrian army have achieved significant military victories in several regions, while militant groups have been fighting among themselves.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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