Syria elections only designed to sustain Assad’s dictatorship
22 Apr 2014 12:25 PM
FCO Minister says Syrian
presidential elections, conducted against backdrop of regime attacks and in a
climate of fear, will have no credibility.
Commenting on the announcement
yesterday by Syria’s parliament that elections for Syria’s
president will be held on 3 June 2014, Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds
said:
"Assad’s plans for
elections can only be designed to sustain his dictatorship. They will be
conducted against the backdrop of non-stop regime attacks on civilians,
hundreds of thousands living under regime siege in horrendous conditions, and
in a climate of fear where thousands of non-violent opponents to Assad have
been detained or have disappeared. Millions of Syrians who have been displaced
from their homes, or who live as refugees outside Syria, will be prevented from
voting. Syria’s new electoral law rules out any genuine opposition to
Assad.
"Elections conducted on
this basis fall far short of any international standard, and their outcome will
have no value or credibility.
"The UK strongly endorses
the democratic and pluralist vision put forward by the Syrian National
Coalition, and we recognise the Geneva II political process as the proper place
for the Syrian parties to negotiate political and constitutional transition.
The Syrian regime must re-engage with this process, rather than undermine
it."