World This Week : Fate of Syria Hangs in The Balance

Syria is suffering from Civil war since 2000—a war that has killed more than 1, 50,000 people and displaced over one-third of the population. And, the major problem Syria faces now is corruption. The system is corrupt to the extent that the anti-Assad rebels now  buy weapons from the government forces, and the families  bribe authorities to release their  relatives who had been detained during the Syrian  uprising.

Despite these problems, Syria is heading towards the Presidential election which will be  held on June 3.

The present Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has declared his candidacy for the Presidential elections on April 28. And it is widely expected that he will win this time too. From the past 13 years, he is ruling Syria, and came to power after his father Hafiz al-Assad, who ruled Syria from 1971-2000, died in 2000. 

Till date, eleven candidates have registered themselves for the upcoming election. The other contenders except Bashar al-Hassad are, Hassan al-Nouri, Mohammad Firas Yassin Rajjouh, Abdul-Salam Youssef Salameh, Sawsan Omar al-Haddad, Sameer Ahmad Mo’alla, Ali Wanous, Azza Mohamed, Talea Salah Nasser and Samih Mikhael Moussa.

The declaration by the Syria election Commission that those who had left the country illegally would not be allowed to vote, will affect the refugees who were forced to flee from Syria. And though the present circumstances seem ufavourable for this election, the outcome of the election and its impact in deciding the fate of Syria will be keenly observed by the world.??