The Arab Council expresses its strong condemnation of the circumstances surrounding the recent presidential elections in Syria, which resulted in the announcement of Bashar al-Assad’s victory with a percentage that is fitting only for backward dictatorships.

The Council considers that these mock elections did not meet the minimum standards of transparency and integrity. No prior political initiative for Syrian-Syrian national reconciliation, one that would close the tragic chapter of the murderous dictatorship that has terrorized the Syrian people, was pursued. This dictatorship led to the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of millions of Syrians worldwide.

The Council affirms that these sham elections and the fabricated result cannot create legitimacy for a regime that lost its legitimacy when it turned its weapons on an unarmed people and when it subordinated the country’s sovereignty and independence to foreign powers, which, together with terrorist groups, participated in the shedding of innocent Syrian blood.

The Council believes that the return of legitimacy to the sisterly Syrian state cannot occur through a meaningless electoral farce. It must come through a genuine reconciliation process under Arab sponsorship, in which responsibilities are assigned, the truth is revealed, victims and their families are compensated, and the borders of the country are opened to all its displaced citizens, whether in the East or West. Only then, when these conditions are met, will elections have any meaning, under the supervision of an independent body with the presence of both Arab and international observers to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and the free will of the voters.

And the night shall surely pass.

On behalf of the Arab Council
President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki