On Wednesday, Syrian parliament members completed the endorsement of candidates for the presidential elections scheduled for May 26, in an event that appears predetermined in favor of President Bashar al-Assad. According to the Syrian news agency, 51 individuals submitted their candidacies, among them 7 women, which is considered a milestone.
To officially accept the applications, each candidate must receive the endorsement of at least 35 members of the People's Assembly, which consists of 250 members, where the ruling Ba'ath Party holds a significant majority. The agency reported this afternoon the "closure and sealing of the endorsement box in the People's Assembly after the completion of the members' endorsements for the presidential election candidates."
It is not yet clear when the names of the final candidates, who received the Assembly's endorsement, will be announced, as the competition is described by Assad's opponents and analysts as "formal," with several Western powers questioning its integrity.
One of the conditions for applying for the elections is that the candidate must have resided in Syria continuously for the past ten years, which closes the door to any potential candidates from the opposition living abroad.
Assad won the last presidential election in June 2014 with over 88% of the vote, and it is expected that he will secure the results of the upcoming elections with little competition.
The presidential elections will only take place in areas controlled by government forces.
This electoral process takes place amid a severe economic crisis in Syria, exacerbated by years of war and Western sanctions, as well as the rapidly deteriorating economic situation in neighboring Lebanon, where many Syrians, including businessmen, are depositing their money.
The elections are organized under the constitution following its referendum in 2012, while meetings of the constitutional committee, consisting of representatives from both the government and opposition, held in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations, have not yielded any results.
