DAMASCUS: Syria will hold a presidential election on May 26 that is expected to keep Bashar al-Assad in power in the country devastated by a decade of civil war.

It will be the second vote since the conflict erupted in March 2011, killing at least 388,000 people since and displacing half the population, with no political solution in sight.

Western powers last month warned against a poll that would not be “fair or free”, and opposition figure Nasr Hariri denounced the forthcoming election as a “farce”.

The election, announced on Sunday by parliament speaker Hamouda Sabbagh, comes as Syria is also mired in a deep economic crisis, worsened by sanctions, the pandemic and financial turmoil in Lebanon.

Assad, who took power following the death of his father Hafez in 2000, has not yet officially announced that he will stand for re-election.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2021