Propaganda alert: US and UN object to the holding of Presidential Elections in Syria

In-depth Report:

In a bitter irony, those who carry out “humanitarian warfare” in the name of “democracy” are committed to boycotting Syria’s presidential elections.

Both the Obama administration and the United Nations are fully aware that the June presidential elections in Syria will, in all likelihood, result in a landslide victory for President al-Assad and thus pave the way for a decisive end to the three-year long NATO-led genocidal war on Syria.

excerpt from:  Highlights of the noon briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Monday, 21 April 2014

official website of the United Nations, 21 April 2014

Forthcoming Syria elections will damage political process – Top U.N. officials

In response to a question on the announcement of [presidential] elections to be held in Syria [on June 3], the Spokesman [for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon] said that the [UN] Secretary-General and the Joint Special Representative [of the UN and Arab League for Syria], Lakhdar Brahimi, have repeatedly warned that the holding of [presidential] elections in the current circumstances, amid the ongoing conflict and massive displacement, will damage the political process and hamper the prospects for a political solution that the country so urgently needs. [Spokesman Stephan] Dujarric added that such elections are incompatible with the letter and spirit of the Geneva Communiqué.

excerpts from:  Daily Press Briefing – April 21, 2014

daily press briefing by U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, Washington D.C., 21 April 2014)
U.S. Department of State website, 21 April 2014

U.S. State Department:  All right. I have one additional item at the top. Presidential – on Syria, I should say – presidential elections – actually a referendum, not a real vote – in Syria planned by the Assad regime undermine the Geneva framework and are a parody of democracy. They have no credibility. Further, the Syrian regime under the Assads has never held a credible, free, and fair election, and has taken legal and administrative steps to ensure that this vote will not be fair. Calling for a de facto referendum rings especially hollow now, as the regime continues to massacre the very electorate it purports to represent. The regime’s violent suppression of the Syrian people’s calls for freedom and dignity is what sparked this brutal conflict. Staging elections under current conditions, including the effective disenfranchisement of millions of Syrians, neither addresses the aspirations of the Syrian people nor moves the country any closer to a negotiated political solution. […]

Question:  Okay. On the Syrian election just for a second. In your view, there’s no way that – there’s no way for an election to actually – for a real election to actually take place because of the current conditions in Syria, or because of the fact that there are millions of people outside who would – outside of Syria, or both?

U.S. State Department:  Well, I think one of the major reasons, which you didn’t mention but is worth noting, is that this – the Syrian regime and the Assad family has a history of not holding free and fair elections. Also, clearly what’s happening on the ground and the fact that this brutality has happened at the hands of the very brutal dictator who is planning to announce elections we don’t think would be free and fair is really the greatest concern.

Question:  Can you also just explain, how does it undermine the Geneva framework?

U.S. State Department:  Well, as the London Eleven [Core Group of the Friends of the Syrian People] announced in its April 3rdstatement, any unilateral decision by the regime to hold presidential elections would be entirely inconsistent with the Geneva communique’s call for the establishment of a transitional governing body to oversee constitutional reforms leading to free and fair elections.

Question:  So – on the Geneva, so I can understand you correctly, it is the transitional aspect that is missing? You need something transitional – a transitional government – to oversee some sort of a fair and free election?

U.S. State Department:  Well, there are several aspects, Said.

Question:  Right.

U.S. State Department:  I think the first and foremost is the brutality of this very dictator who is planning to hold these elections, so – and the history of what’s happened over the last few years. But certainly, the Geneva communique calls for the creation of a transitional governing body.

Question:  So that’s the one I think that would legally – or stand in the face of a free and fair elections, correct? A transitional body of some sort.

U.S. State Department:  Well, there are also steps – laws that have been passed by the regime that preclude anyone who hasn’t lived in the country for 10 years from running for office that make it very difficult for other candidates to run in an election like this.

Question:  Okay. Do you still believe that Assad’s days are numbered?

U.S. State Department:  We do.

Question:  Okay.

U.S. State Department:  And we certainly – as you know, [U.S. Special Envoy for Syria] Daniel Rubinstein is back in the region.

Question:  Right.

U.S. State Department:  We continue to work with the opposition, we continue to work with our international partners, and we’ll continue to press for bringing an end to this regime.

Question:  Okay. So no amount of transparency could actually be – could be conceivable, correct, in this – in conducting this kind of election?

U.S. State Department:  I think —

Question:  Aside from the fact that maybe one-third of the population is dislocated?

U.S. State Department:  Well, the Assads have never held a credible, fair, or free election.

Related news:

SANA, 21 April 2014

People’s Assembly [of Syria] on Monday opened the door for candidacy to the Presidential elections in Syria.

Speaker of the Assembly Mohammad Jihad Lahham said that candidates for presidential elections will be able to submit applications to the Supreme Constitutional Court starting from Tuesday, April 22, 2014 until Thursday, 1 May, 2014.

During Parliament session which was attended by Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi, members of the government and representatives of local and Arab and foreign media outlets, al-Laham said that “from the People’s Assembly I tell the Syrian people that the time for the presidential elections has come.”

“We declare that presidential elections will be carried out on schedule with no delay, heedless of what some are saying from abroad in a bid to undermine our self-confidence and break down our political and democratic track.”

He stressed that no will is superior to the will of the Syrian people, adding that the legislative institution in Syria is steadfast and it works diligently and faithfully for fulfilling its duty despite the martyrdom of some colleagues, the kidnapping of others and all attempts of targeting other parliament members.

Al-Laham called upon the Syrians inside and outside the country to practice their right to vote and those who wish to run for presidency to do so. […]

MPs [i.e. members of the Syrian parliament] said that the announcement of presidential elections’ date is a milestone in Syria’s history that proves that Syria has conquered terrorism.

They saw that the elections come at an important juncture in Syria’s history, indicating that Syria is at the threshold of important phase that places responsibility on every Syrian citizen to rise to the challenge and determine the future of their country.


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Articles by: Cem Ertür

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