Bashar al-Assad was re-elected as the new president of Syria.
Syria’s President Bashar al Assad has been re-elected with 95.1% of the vote, according to officials in the country, as the West denounced the vote as illegitimate.
Officials said 78.6% of eligible voters cast their ballot – but in a country where many are displaced after a 10-year conflict, this figure has been questioned.
The president wrote on his campaign’s Facebook page: “Thank you to all Syrians for their high sense of nationalism and their notable participation… For the future of Syria’s children and its youth, let’s start from tomorrow our campaign of work to build hope and build Syria.”
Mr Assad had faced symbolic competition from two candidates, former deputy cabinet minister Abdallah Saloum Abdallah and Mahmoud Ahmed Marei, the head of a small, officially sanctioned opposition party.
The win will give the 55-year-old seven more years in power, stretching his family’s rule to almost six decades.
