Russia Praises Syrian Election, Criticizes Western Reaction
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia said on Thursday observers had found the Syrian presidential election in which Bashar al-Assad retained power to have been fair, free and transparent, and criticized the reaction of nations that denounced the vote.
"Moscow sees the vote as an important event that safeguards the continued functioning of state institutions in Syria," Reuters reported Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying.
He said the "politicised reaction" of some nations "cannot fail to cause disillusionment".
This comes as crowds of Syrians celebrated the election victory of President Bashar al-Assad on the streets of Damascus on Thursday (June 5).
Syrian prime minister, Wael al-Halqi, hailed the election as an example to the rest of the world in a statement broadcast on state television.
"The Syrian people have passed their test in democracy with distinction. They have set an example for democracy in its best forms, one that can be an example for the rest of the world to follow given the election process's transparency and integrity," he said.
Parliamentary speaker Mohammad al-Laham said Assad secured 88.7 percent of votes cast in the election, which was held in the govenrment-held areas covering nearly 80% of the territory.
State television showed crowds cheering and dancing not only in Damascus, but also in Qamishli in the Kurdish northeast of the country, the Druze city of Suweida in the south and the contested city of Aleppo in the north.
Syria's constitutional court earlier said that turnout in Tuesday's (June 3) election and a previous round of voting for Syrian expatriates and refugees stood at 73 percent.
Despite the high turnout figures, residents of some areas in the country’s north and east were obstructed from voting by rebel forces.
But while the foreign-backed opposition groups inside Syria and most countries in the West have denounced the election as a sham, many Syrians are supporting President Assad and see him as the only option to return stability to the country.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. The UN says more than 130,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the unrest in 2011. More than 2.2 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries while an estimated 4.25 million have been displaced internally.
