Qatar has ruled out any improvement in its relations with Syria following President Bashar al-Assad's election to a fourth term, citing the absence of a "political solution" to the crisis in the country. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stated in an interview with "Al-Arabi" television on Friday that his country does not intend to normalize relations with Syria after Assad's recent electoral victory. The minister added, "We have not seen any prospect for a political solution acceptable to the Syrian people so far... we have not seen any progress in that regard; there is a continuation of the same approach and behavior." He further stated, "We have no motivation to restore relations with the Syrian regime at this time... the Syrian regime is committing crimes against its people."
Damascus claimed that the elections held on Wednesday demonstrate that matters in the country are proceeding normally despite the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced 11 million. Gulf Arab countries downgraded their diplomatic representation with Damascus in 2012 or closed their diplomatic missions. The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in late 2018. Currently, the UAE has a chargé d'affaires in Syria, and Oman, one of the few Arab countries that maintained diplomatic relations with Damascus, sent an ambassador there in 2020.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a new presidential term after receiving 95.1% of the votes, according to results announced by the Speaker of the People's Assembly, Hammouda Sabbagh, on Thursday evening. The Syrian constitution stipulates that the presidential term is seven calendar years. Candidates Mahmoud Ahmad Marai received 470,276 votes (3.3%), and Abdullah Salloum Abdullah received 213,968 votes (1.5%) out of the total number of voters, with the overall number of voters inside and outside Syria reaching 18,107,108.
