2014 Syrian presidential election


Presidential elections were held in Syria on 3 June 2014. There is a scholarly consensus that the election was not democratic.
Because of the Syrian Civil War which began in March 2011, Syria has the largest refugee population in the world and 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 the vote 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.
Some rebel groups vowed to disrupt the elections in any way possible, including bombing and shelling polling stations and government-controlled areas. Another statement, issued by the Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union, the Sham Corps, the Army of Mujahedeen and the Islamic Front, said they would not attack voters but warned people to stay at home "in case the Syrian government did"; there were 50 reported deaths from the shelling by the rebels.
Bashar al-Assad was sworn in for his third seven-year term on July 16, 2014 in the presidential palace in Damascus. The Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union and the United States decried the election as illegitimate. Members of this coalition have been condemned by supporters of Assad for supposedly precipitating the civil war through what they claim is the invasion of Syria which is illegal under international law, the UN charter and for providing material and financial support for the terrorist groups.
Attempts to hold an election under the circumstances of a civil war were 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 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 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. In order to allow voters to participate in the elections following the ban, the Syrian government encouraged Syrian expatriates to fly back to their home country and cast their votes. Those foreign governments' decisions were welcomed by the Syrian National Council, a Syrian opposition organization and an opponent of Bashar al-Assad.

Electoral system

, 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.

Eligibility criteria

The conditions required to be a candidate in a presidential election are the following according to the Syrian constitution:
  1. A candidate must have the support of at least 35 or more members of the parliament
  2. A candidate must be at least 40 years old
  3. A candidate must be Syrian by birth, of parents who are Syrians by birth
  4. A candidate must enjoy civil and political rights and not convicted of a dishonorable felony, even if he was reinstated
  5. A candidate must not be married to a non-Syrian spouse
  6. A candidate must have lived in Syria for 10 years before the election

    Candidates

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".
The other 21 candidates that did not meet the criteria were:
The Supreme Constitutional Court announced on Wednesday 4 June that turnout for the election was 73.42%, with 11,634,412 of the 15,845,575 Syrians eligible to take part voting. The number for Syrians eligible to vote is based on the government’s data of all Syrians living in Syria and abroad over the age of 18; this includes all Syrians in government-held territory, rebels-held territory, refugees, newly naturalized Kurds, and declared Syrian expatriates.
The number of invalid papers was 442,108, or 3.8%. Majed Khadra, the Spokesperson of the Supreme Constitutional Court, also announced that the losing candidates and individuals with complaints about the electoral process had 3 days to submit their appeals. He stated that the court would decide the final outcome in the 7 days following the three-day appeal period, and then would announce the name of the declared winner by means of the Speaker of the People's Assembly. The same day the Speaker of the People's Assembly, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, announced the raw data results.
Andrew Gelman suggested that the results could be fabricated based on the unlikely accurate numbers. For example, 10,319,723/11,634,412 = 0.886999962, so the 88.7% number for Bashar al-Assad is correct to the nearest single voter. Similarly, the proportion for NIACS comes out at 0.042999938 and for the Independent party at 0.031999985.
But whilst Gelman's argues that the published counts were fabricated, he admits that it does not preclude the theory that those numbers could have been generated retrospectively from valid percentages.
The proportion reported for turnout, 0.734237287, does not exhibit the unusual property found in the vote counts.

Election observers

The Syrian government said election monitors would not be from the United States, European Union, or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, but other observers would be present. There were no independent election monitors for the election, but an international delegation did observe the election. It was reported to have included representatives from more than 30 countries including Brazil, India, Iran, Russia, Uganda, the US, and Venezuela. Other delegates expected to join were from China, South Africa, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and Canada. Among the delegates were Iran's Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Alexey Alexandrov of Russia's ruling United Russia, William Fariñas of Venezuela's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Benna Namugwanya Bugembe of Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement, Brazilian Socorro Gomes of the Communist World Peace Council, blogger Jane Stillwater, Judy Bello and Scott Williams of the Workers World Party, Joe Iosbaker of Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!, Indian anti-Zionist activist Feroze Mithiborwala, and US-based pro-Assad activist Paul Larudee.

Reactions

Domestic

Expressions of concern

The Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union and the United States all decried the election as illegitimate and a farce.
State employees were told to vote or face interrogation. On the ground there were no independent monitors stationed at the polling stations. As few as 6 million eligible voters remained in Syria. Due to rebel, Kurdish and ISIS control of Syrian territories there was no voting in roughly 60% of the country.

Expressions of congratulations