Nine countries to observe Syria's presidential elections

Nine countries will observe the Syrian presidential elections, which opposition groups described as a “democratic farce”, a senior Iranian official announced yesterday.

The Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi reportedly said that a number of delegations participating in the Tehran conference are due to travel to Syria today.

The announcement was made during the convention of the second conference of Friends of Syria in Tehran yesterday.

Representatives of seven countries, including Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tajikistan, the Philippines, Venezuela and Bolivia, are to join Iranian, Russian and Lebanese teams to observe the electoral process.

The electoral campaigns for the three presidential candidates came to an end yesterday. Bashar Al-Assad is expected to win the elections as he is the most prominent candidate in what is described as “fake competition”.

The elections come amidst a bloody internal conflict which started three years ago in Syria, as Syrians have been calling for the Al-Assad to stand down.