Voting Begins in War-Torn Syria; Al-Assad Expected to Win

Source: cnn

- Polls for the Syrian presidential election opened Tuesday against the backdrop of a bloody and protracted civil war.

The outcome is hardly in doubt: President Bashar al-Assad is almost guaranteed to emerge victorious in a vote that opposition groups and many Western countries say has been be rigged from the start.

When al-Assad came to power 14 years ago, he ran unopposed, securing more than 99% of votes, according to state media. Seven years later, he won again with a similarly mountainous share of the vote. His father, Hafez al-Assad, ruled Syria with an iron fist for 29 years before he died in 2000.

But some analysts say the purpose of this week's vote, which U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Syrian government not to hold, is to send a message to al-Assad's opponents, both in Syria and abroad.

"It's a coronation of Assad, it's a celebration of his ability to survive the violent storm and basically go on the offensive," said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.

The election takes place amid a grinding three-year conflict that has killed around 150,000 people, displaced about 6.5 million people within Syria and prompted almost 3 million people to flee outside its borders.

Voting will only take place in areas controlled by the regime. Rebels hold significant parts of the north and east of the country.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/03/world/meast/syria-election/?hpt=hp_t3