Syria conflict: West criticises Assad election plan

[okaawhatever]

Source: BBC

The US has dismissed a Syrian plan to hold a presidential election on 3 June as a "parody of democracy".

UN chief Ban Ki-moon also condemned the plan, saying it could torpedo efforts to broker a deal to end the three-year civil war, which has killed 150,000.

SNIP

The government recently framed an election law that stipulated all candidates must have lived in Syria for the past 10 years.

Most opposition leaders have fled the country, so are in effect barred from standing.

SNIP

One government MP said there would be no voting in rebel-held areas, but no official announcement has yet been made.

The US, EU and UN were united in condemning the planned vote.

"Calling for a de-facto referendum rings especially hollow now as the regime continues to massacre the very electorate it purports to represent," said state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Mr Ban warned that it would "damage the political process and hamper the prospects for a political solution".

And both the EU and the US labelled it a "parody of democracy".



Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27100821

[Turbineguy]

1. I don't see the problem here.

How can you be a dictator if you have to run against others in an election?

[okaawhatever]

2. Exactly. He laughed at Crimea's 97% results. He says he can top that with a few tanks tied behind

his back.

[jakeXT]

3. Any criticism for Turkey, Qatar or Saudi Arabia left? /nt

[Jesus Malverde]

4. Qatar and Saudi models of democracy and human rights.

The elections held in afganistan and Iraq under occupation were legit and set the precident for Crimea.



The US is over the top in its Hipocracy.

[jamzrockz]

5. Yup

and didn't Abraham Lincoln run an election in the middle of a bloody civil war? II wonder if confederate pols and votes were allowed to stand during the election.