Assad re-election bid unstoppable: Syria
Iran Press TV
Thu Dec 19, 2013 6:0PM GMT
The Syrian government says that nobody can stop President Bashar al-Assad from standing for re-election next year, reports said.
'Nobody has the right to interfere and say he must run or he should not run,' AFP quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad as saying on Thursday.
Muqdad stressed that President Assad should "be a candidate but he will decide when the time comes for him to decide."
'I shall ask the opposition: why a Syrian national does not have the right to be a candidate? Who can prevent him? Any Syrian national can be candidate(sic.),' he also said.
'The ballot boxes will decide who will lead Syria... President Assad enjoys a big majority while (French) President (Francois) Hollande has only 15 percent support of the French people," he further added.
The remarks came after Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov reportedly criticized Damascus over the 2014 presidential election, asking all parties in Syria to steer clear of stoking tensions ahead of the upcoming talks scheduled to be held in Switzerland next month.
'Exchanging such rhetorical statements just makes the atmosphere heavier and does not make the situation calmer,' Bogdanov said.
'We believe that ahead of the peace talks there should be no statements which someone may not like and can cause emotions and a reaction in response,' the Russian official added.
The international conference aimed at resolving almost three-year-long crisis in Syria will be held on January 22, 2014 in Switzerland.
Syria has been gripped by deadly crisis since March 2011.
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