Kerry calls Syrian presidential election ‘meaningless’

Press TV

The vote was “meaningless, because you can’t have an election where millions of your people don’t even have an ability to vote,” said Kerry, who landed in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday on an unannounced visit.  

Kerry also said that the US believes in a political settlement and it’s up to the Syrians to decide when President Bashar al-Assad should leave.

On Tuesday, Syrians cast their votes in the election to determine the country’s next leader for the seven years.

Syrian parliamentary speaker announced on Wednesday that Assad won the election by a landslide.

Mohammad al-Laham said Assad secured 88.7 percent of the votes cast in the election.

Over 15 million Syrians were eligible to vote in more than 9,000 stations across the government-controlled areas of the country.

President Assad, MP Maher al-Hajjar, and businessman Hassan al-Nouri were competing for the top post.

The US opposition to the election is diametrically opposed to its previous stance calling for an election to be held in Syria.

The election is part of the political reforms introduced by the Syrian government to resolve the three-year conflict.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army has been making gains on the battlefield against the fragmented opposition, and their Western and Arab allies.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011. Over 160,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced due to the violence fueled by the foreign-backed militants.

According to reports, the US and its regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

GJH/GJH

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/06/04/365591/kerry-calls-syria-election-meaningless/