Syrian President Assad to run for re-election in May: State media

Bashar al-Assad submits documents to run for a third term in the election scheduled for May 26.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has submitted documents to run for a third term in an election scheduled for May 26, parliament’s speaker said on state media. The parliament speaker announced the election – the second under the shadow of the war – on Sunday. Washington and the Syrian opposition have denounced it as a farce designed to cement Assad’s authoritarian rule. President Assad, who took power following the death of his father Hafez in 2000, won the previous election in 2014, three years after a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters and amid the raging conflict. At the time, he was given nearly 90 percent of the vote.