Damascus residents: Assad forces people to march in support of him
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Al-Arin charity, affiliated with the wife of the Syrian president, distributed food aid in the Qanawat district in Damascus on Monday, as the residents said it is to support the election campaign.
On April 29, Luna al-Shibl, Syrian Presidential Media Consultant, announced the launch of the election campaign for the current president on May 5.
The elections will be held on Wednesday and the candidates are Abdullah Salloum Abdullah, Bashar Assad, and Mahmoud Ahmad Merei.
A lawyer residing in Damascus, who preferred not to be named, believes that after ten years of war, the regime is still operating according to the same previous mentality that produced the current situation.
He added in a statement to North Press that “the supporters provoke me with a pre-determined election, especially as they predetermine a date for the celebration again on the day after what they call the renewal of the pledge of allegiance.”
Employees in Damascus complain of being forced to march in support of Assad, under penalty of accountability for those who refuse to participate.
Khalid al-Turk (a pseudonym), an employee at the Ministry of Culture, said, “Ministry officials and members of the party division in it force employees to march in support of Assad on an almost daily basis.”
On Monday evening, an election rally for Assad was held in Tishreen Park in the center of the capital, with the participation of the staff of Dar al-Assad for Culture and Arts, according to al-Turk.
Today the government-held areas enter the “electoral silence” stage, as all forms of election campaigning for candidates must stop.