Brussels, 04/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 4 June, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton described the presidential elections in Syria which were organised the previous day as “illegitimate”, and she called on the regime “to re-engage in genuine political negotiations that will produce conditions allowing for a real expression of the will of the Syrian people”. “Any elections in Syria should only take place within the framework of a genuine political process agreed by the international community”, Ashton stated. She had regretted the announcement on 23 April to hold elections in Syria (see EUROPE 11065).
In Ashton's opinion, the elections on 3 June “undermine the political efforts to find a solution to this horrific conflict” and “the EU thus considers that these elections are illegitimate”. “A flawed electoral law imposed identification requirements that deprived most Syrians living in areas under opposition control of the ability to cast their vote. The law also prevented exiled opposition candidates from standing against President Assad, and blocked access to alternative sources of campaign information”, Ashton stated in a press release.
Ashton recalled that the former UN and Arab League special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, had criticised the holding of such an election in a country in the midst of a civil war, and he had urged Assad to refrain from seeking re-election as it would jeopardise the political process that had started with Geneva I. Ashton stressed that the regime has rejected the Geneva Communiqué as the basis for political transition and has continued with military operations, “leading to more than 150,000 deaths, 6.5 million internally displaced persons and 2.5 million refugees”.
The Foreign Affairs Council in April described the holding of the elections as a parody of democracy, devoid of all credibility (see EUROPE 11060).
As well as Bashar al-Assad, businessman Hassan al-Nouri and parliamentarian Maher al-Hajjar were also candidates. (CG)