2014 Syrian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Syria on 3 June 2014. There is a scholarly consensus that the elections were not democratic. The result was a landslide victory for Bashar al-Assad, who received over 90% of the valid votes. He was sworn in for a third seven-year term on 16 July in the presidential palace in Damascus.

The elections took place amidst the Syrian Civil War, which had begun three years before. As a result of the war, the country had the largest refugee population in the world at the time of the elections, with voting for refugees in certain foreign countries began at Syrian embassies several days before voting in Syria. Domestic and foreign-based Syrian opposition groups boycotted the election and voting did not take place in large parts of Syria under rebel control. The areas under Kurdish militia control also did not allow voting due to the refusal of the government to recognize their claim for regional autonomy, though some people traveled to government–controlled areas to vote.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union and the United States decried the election as illegitimate. Attempts to hold an election under the circumstances of a civil war were also criticized by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and it was widely reported that the elections lacked independent election monitoring.

Background

Since 2011, the country has been plagued by the Syrian Civil War that has factionalised the population largely, but not entirely, along sectarian religious and/or ethnic grounds. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights states that the war has claimed over 150,000 lives. One third of the country's population of 23 million (some 7 million) have been displaced, with 2.5 million as refugees in foreign countries.

A Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that amid the ongoing Syrian Civil War and large-scale displacement of Syrian citizens, "such elections are incompatible with the letter and spirit of the Geneva communiqué" and would "damage prospects of a political solution with the opposition. We will, nonetheless, continue to search and build upon any opening to a solution to the tragedy in Syria." Syrian Rebels and opposition parties refused to attend the peace conference (the ultimate goal of the Geneva communiqué) unless Assad was removed from power and barred from any future leadership position. The peace talks had failed before they ever began because what was intended to be a negotiation became only an ultimatum. The derailment of the Peace talks is in stark contrast to the stated goals of the UN towards resolving the conflict.

Refugees

The 2.5 million refugees and their ability to vote has resulted in several controversies surrounding this election. Hundreds of thousands of refugees who did not leave Syria officially via border posts have been excluded from voting.

In Beirut, Lebanon, which hosts some 1.1 million Syrian refugees, the roads were paralyzed because of the huge number of Syrian refugees and Syrian expatriates already living in Lebanon that wanted to vote at the embassy.

Expatriate voting

Permitted

Syrian expatriates were able to vote in the Syrian embassies of the following nations:

Refused

The following ten countries did not allow expatriate voting to be held in the Syrian diplomatic missions. Those foreign governments' decisions were welcomed by the Syrian National Council, a Syrian opposition organization and an opponent of Bashar al-Assad.

Electoral system

The new constitution, adopted following the 2012 Syrian constitutional referendum, has changed the nature of the Presidential election from a referendum to a multi-candidate electoral ballot. As a result, this election marks the first time that candidates can challenge the incumbent president; the first nominally democratic election in Syria's history. A law adopted by the Syrian parliament in early 2014 restricts candidacy to individuals who have lived in Syria for the past ten years, thereby preventing exiled people from running.

On 8 April Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi announced that candidates will be able to submit their applications during the last ten days of April. Zoabi insisted that despite the ongoing civil war that the election would proceed on schedule, and wouldn't be delayed for any reason. Zoabi also claimed that the "overwhelming majority" of Syrians wished to see incumbent President Bashar al-Assad re-elected. Zoabi also claimed that government military operations would continue despite the election.

Candidates

Article 84 of the Constitution of Syria required that candidates for the presidency must:
#Be at least 40 years old
#Be Syrian by birth, of parents who are Syrians by birth
#Enjoy civil and political rights and not convicted of a dishonorable felony, even if he was reinstated
#Not be married to a non-Syrian wife
#Have lived in Syria for 10 years continuously upon nomination

Further eligibility requirements in the constitution include:
*The religion of the President is Islam (Article 3)
*A candidate must be supported by at least 35 members of the People's Assembly (Article 85)
*The President cannot carry another nationality (Article 152)

A total of 24 candidates, including 2 women and a Christian, submitted applications to the Supreme Constitutional Court for the presidency. Of these, two candidates other than Assad met all the conditions to run, including the support of 35 members of the parliament. The two other candidates chosen to run are seen as "mostly symbolic contenders" and "little known figures".
* Bashar al-Assad, the incumbent president, leader of Ba'ath Party
* Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri, from the National Initiative for Administration and Change in Syria, a 54-year-old MP from Damascus
* Maher Abd Al-Hafiz Hajjar, formerly from the People's Will Party, a 43-year-old MP from Aleppo. This party is led by veteran opposition leader Qadri Jamil

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