Syrian President wins 97% of vote.

Djaughe · May 29th, 2007, 05:44 AM

Ralph Nader unofficially took the other 3%.

Quote:

Syrian President wins 97% of vote.

SYRIA'S President Bashar al-Assad has won a second seven-year term in office after netting more than 97 per cent of the vote in a referendum, the interior minister has announced.
Opposition groups had called for a boycott of the no-contest referendum in which Mr Assad was the sole candidate.

Bassam Abdel Majid told a televised news conference that Mr Assad, 41, won a massive 97.62 per cent of the vote in Sunday's referendum, with some 11.19 million Syrians taking part, or almost 96 per cent of those eligible.

"No" voters numbered 19,653, and almost 253,000 votes were void, he said.

In July 2000, Mr Assad was again the sole candidate to succeed his father Hafez who had died the previous month. The official result then showed that he received 97.29 per cent.

"The last few years have demonstrated the competence of President Assad in managing events while remaining faithful to national causes," the interior minister said, in reference to US pressures on Damascus over Lebanon and Iraq.

"Syria has undergone all sorts of pressure to renounce its national stand but it has remained true to its positions, allowing it to overcome challenges," he said.

"A series of laws have been passed in favour of judicial, administrative and economic reforms paving the way for good economic growth," he said. "Improving the standard of living of Syrians has been a priority."

Mr Abdel Majid said he would immediately submit the referendum results to the speaker of Parliament, Mahmud al-Abrash, for the House to declare Mr Assad president for another seven years.

With parliament having unanimously approved Mr Assad's candidature and with vocal opponents of the regime locked up, the result was never in doubt.

While the authorities focused the campaign on stability in a region awash with bloodshed, the one tolerated opposition grouping has no legal status and was unable to field candidates.