Damascus: Incumbent Bashar al-Assad's victory in the Syrian presidential election has been met with much criticism from the country's opposition and the West, which dismissed the ballot as a "sham".
Assad has won a third seven-year term by garnering 88.7 percent of the vote in the presidential election Tuesday, it was announced Wednesday.
Claiming that the people of Syria voted "out of fear", a group of opposition fighters denounced the vote as "elections of blood", without legitimacy, Xinhua reported.
It was the first multi-candidate presidential election in Syria's modern history and it took place amid a reeling three-year political crisis and conflict.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called the results "meaningless", saying "the so-called elections are non-elections" and "a great big zero".
The European Union (EU) also said in a statement that the election is "illegitimate and undermines the political efforts to find a solution to this horrific conflict", which internally displaced 6.5 million people.
Meanwhile, around 241,000 people remain under siege, and at least 2.5 million people in the city of Aleppo were deliberately deprived of water for more than a week in May, when armed opposition groups shut down the city's main pumping station.
Comments
| Quick linksNews
National
International
Regional
Politics
Education & Career
Business
Science & Technology
Health
Views & Analysis
The Funny Side
© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.
Gopinath Munde's mortal remains consigned to flamesMahajan, 56, succumbed to the injuries May 3 that year, plunging the BJP in a state of shock at the passing of its charismatic and youthful leader, who also served as a union minister handling different portfolios.... More
Also Read: Gopinath Munde's death: Second mid-summer tragedy for BJP
Terming uniform civil code unrealistic and impractical in India, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), an apex body of the India Muslims, has decided to start a campaign against any move to impose the controversial law in the country..... More
Also Read: Clamour for reform grows as Muslim panel meets in Jalgaon
Congress and caste parties decimated, whither Indian Muslims?By giving them frontline roles in communal conflicts, the Sangh Parivar has dignified Mochis, Khatiks (fruit sellers), Lohars (blacksmiths), Nayis (barbers), Valmikis (toilet cleaners), dhobis (laundry washers) in large numbers as Hindutva's foot soldiers..... More
Muslim Personal Law Board not against women praying in mosquesIn a welcome change from its earlier stand, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Saturday said it was not opposed if the doors of mosques were thrown open to women for prayers ... More
Also Read: Clamour for reform grows as Muslim panel meets in Jalgaon