The Syrian court has chosen two “rivals” in its May vote against Assad’s Political News

The Syrian constitutional court selects two dark people to run against Bashar al-Assad in the presidential election.

Syrian Constitutional Court selects former minister and Damascus-approved opposition member over Bashar al-Assad this month’s presidential election.

The Assad-nominated organization on Monday approved the submission of three of the 51 applicants in the May 26 vote, including The 55-year-old president himself, is expected to win a fourth term.

Jihad al-Laham, the president of the court, said in a press conference on state television that Abdallah Salloum Abdallah had been accepted as prime minister from 2016 to 2020.

The third candidate was named Mahmoud Marei, one of the members of the so-called “tolerated opposition” long described by exiled opposition leaders as an extension of the regime.

Damascus sees the election as a system of government despite the war functioning normally. The opposition and Western countries see it that way The farce to keep Assad in power indefinitely and start negotiations to end the conflict.

All 48 other applications were rejected for “non-compliance with constitutional and legal requirements,” the court president said, without specifying. They have until May 7 to file an appeal.

Applicants were required to receive the support of at least 35 MPs, each of whom is allowed to reject only one candidate.

Exiled members of the opposition are de facto excluded by the electoral law, which provides for them to have lived continuously in Syria for at least the last 10 years.

Conflict

The elections will be the second decade since the conflict began, killing more than 388,000 people and taking more than half of the Syrian pre-war population from their homes.

Damascus has invited lawmakers from allied countries such as Russia, Iran, China, Venezuela and Cuba to observe the election process.

Last week in New York, members of the United Nations Security Council, led by the United States, France and the United Kingdom, previously rejected the outcome of the May 26 interrogation, accusing Russia of “unacceptable” attitude.

Al-Assad, who has already ruled for 21 years, was elected in a referendum in 2000 and 2007 for the first multi-candidate referendum in 2014, with only two candidates out of 24 al-Assad, out of 24 applicants. .

Campaigns will begin on May 11th Syrians abroad can vote at their embassies on May 20th.

Al-Assad has taken steps in recent months to alleviate the grief of people fueled by anger over erosion of living conditions and reduced currencies, including rising state salaries, countering speculative currencies and matching the official exchange rate with the black market.

His opponents say some new measures, such as cheap loans, are politically and economically in favor of his powerful allies, including members of his minority Alawite sect that dominate the state and security forces.

On Sunday, al-Assad issued an amnesty to scare away punishments for currency speculators, smugglers and petty criminals, relatives hoped could lead to the release of some citizen activists imprisoned in recent months.