Syria: Assad makes victory speech, says election empowers him to defeat enemies

Bashar al-Assad, who won his fourth term as Syria’s president with a “predictable landslide”, made a televised victory speech on May 28 wherein he vowed to defeat his enemies no matter how many battles he faced. Following a Presidential vote that has been labelled “illegitimate” by multiple occidental states, al-Assad was, late Thursday, announced Syria’s leader. While the Syrian Parliament leader said that the 55-year-old had garnered 95.1 per cent of the vote, many international watchdogs have questioned the credibility of the polls, which were held sans independent monitors.

In a nine-minute televised speech, Assad said the public had challenged enemies of Syria, and those questioning the election's legitimacy by turning out in large numbers to vote for him, calling it a “fighting spirit”. Furthermore, he said that it was a “great honours” for him to serve the country. “People choosing me to serve for the next constitutional period is a great honour for me. I am certain that with this fighting spirit we will be able to defeat all our enemies no matter how many the battles are or how hard the road is,” al-Assad said.

No end to the war

Al-Assad triggered a bloody civil war in 2011 after he tried to suppress opposition to his authoritarian rule, which now extends to 21 years. While armed fighting has now ended, government and militias continue to engage in a war of nerves and occasional assaults. With the coronavirus contagion wreaking havoc, the Syrian economy has plunged manifold with roughly 80 per cent of the population living under the poverty line.

The pandemic has posed a tough situation for countries all across the globe, however, for Syria, it has been a major challenge with its economy and health care sector crippling due to the decade-long war-like situation. According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, Syria has a total of 24,410 cases with 1,758 fatalities. 21,588 people have been recovered so far. However, with limited PCR tests being conducted, numbers are believed to be much higher, especially in regions of northern Syria, which is outside government control.

Image: AP