President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) Nasr al-Hariri has sent a letter to 75 states and seven international organizations regarding the illegal elections that the Assad regime intends to conduct in the coming days.
Al-Hariri said: “The Assad regime announced the 26th of May as the date for the presidential elections in Syria, and this announcement comes as a coup against the political process and its international path based on the relevant international resolutions, especially Security Council Resolutions 2118 of 2013 and 2254 of 2015.”
He stressed that the Syrian people decided to completely reject this sham operation and consider it as an illegal process whose results are not recognized.
“The Assad regime lost legitimacy after it adopted the military solution in the face of the popular revolution and its use of all methods of repression, including arrest, torture, displacement, rape, enforced disappearance, killing and destroying the country. It has been proven that the criminal regime committed crimes against humanity and war crimes, by brutal methods, including the use of chemical weapons.
He pointed to “the huge contradiction between the electoral process as called for by the Assad regime and the international process seeking a political solution to the Syrian situation, according to Geneva Communique 1 and Resolutions 2118 and 2254.”
Al-Hariri also stressed “the lack of a safe and neutral environment to conduct any free, fair and transparent elections. This process is taking place under the control of the regime’s security and intelligence services, and its result is well known and was prepared in advance based on the illegal 2012 constitution, which was approved against the will of the Syrians and it was rejected by the forces of the Syrian revolution and opposition and by most of the Syrian society at that time.”
“The Assad regime’s repeated procrastination in not seriously engaging in the political process paths in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, the thing which has been confirmed more than once in the briefings of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Syria, has become clear and confirms that the regime is striving to legitimize the existence that enables it, with the help of its supporters, to continue to power and aborts the negotiation path.”
He urged against recognizing these elections nor their results and that a greater pressing role be exercised on the regime and its allies, considering that the only solution to the Syrian situation will be only through a real commitment from all parties to the political process in accordance with the relevant international resolutions.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
