Syria wraps up campaigning for presidential election

Syria has wrapped up campaigning for the presidential election in the Arab country.

On Sunday, Syria’s Higher Judicial Committee for Elections issued a statement and announced that the campaigns of presidential candidates will suspend as of Monday morning.

“In accordance with the rules of Article 58 of the elections’ law No. 5 for 2014, the campaigns for presidential elections suspend before 24 hours of the date of elections, set on Tuesday June 3rd, 2014; namely as of Monday June 2nd at 7:00 a.m.,” the committee said in the statement.
Most Syrians reportedly hope to find a peaceful solution through the ballot box to resolve the conflict in the Middle Eastern country.

Syria’s presidential election will start on June 3. The vote will be held in the government-controlled parts of the crisis-hit Arab state.

On May 28, Syrian citizens living abroad went to the polls at the Syrian embassies in a number of countries including Iran, Russia, Yemen, China, Lebanon, Malaysia, Venezuela, Jordan, Sudan, Oman, the Czech Republic, Belarus and India.

President Bashar al-Assad is seeking a third term in office. He will face Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar, a lawmaker from Aleppo, as well as Hassan Abdallah al-Nuri, a legislator from Damascus in the forthcoming presidential race.

Damascus has insisted that it would hold the vote despite the foreign-backed militancy that has reportedly killed over 160,000 people since it erupted in the country in March 2011.

The Syrian government has also dismissed Western and opposition accusations regarding the presidential election, saying that it is planning to hold a free and transparent vote.