Unconfirmed leaks from both inside and outside Damascus suggested the possibility of postponing the presidential elections in Syria according to an American-Russian agreement, allowing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stay in power for two years after the end of his term in July 2014, according to the text of the Constitution.
Assad said in an interview with a Turkish television channel on Friday that he would not hesitate to run for the next presidential elections if this is the desire of the Syrian people, which has increased speculation about the seriousness of the leaks in question.
The leaks reported that the latest American-Russian agreement favored al-Assad to stay to complete issues around the dismantling of Syria's chemical arsenal and the elimination of armed militant groups. The leaks were based on varied reasons: the huge numbers of immigrants and displaced Syrians, the fact that the Syrian government does not have embassies in most countries, in addition to the deteriorated security situation and the lack of the government authorities in several Syrian provinces.
These are difficult conditions in which to conduct elections and they allow Assad to stay in power and continue to exercise his presidential duties, based on the text of the second paragraph of Article 87 of Syrian Constitution.
Assad staying in power after the end of his mandate on 16 July 2014 is the worst-case scenario feared by the Syrian opposition. The news hit the opposition like a thunderbolt. While they had rejected al-Assad finishing out his presidential mandate, they may have to accept the reality that he will stay even after that date.
This remains unconfirmed, but given the reality of the Syrian crisis, it may become a reality in the light of the settlements resulted from the International deficit.
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