Was Syria’s election less of a sham than Egypt’s?
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Version 0 of 1. The results from Syria's election were announced Wednesday, with the country's parliamentary speaker announcing that Bashar al-Assad had received about 88.7 percent of the votes cast. It had previously been announced that turnout was 73.4 percent. There are plenty of good reasons to be skeptical of this result. Syria has been locked in a devastating civil conflict for more than three years. At least 100,000 people have died as a result of the war, and around 2.8 million people have been displaced. Few Western journalists were granted visas to cover the event, making it hard to ascertain turnout, but few expected voters in rebel-held areas of the country to turn up to an election described as a sham. In fact, perhaps the most surprising thing about Assad's reelection is that his margin is actually rather modest – Assad had won 97 percent of the votes in 2007, although the election was uncontested. That modesty also paints Egypt's recent election in a negative light. On Tuesday, Egypt's Election Commission officially confirmed former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had been elected to presidential office with nearly 97 percent of the vote. That vote, however, was plagued with low turnout (47 percent), widely interpreted as an embarrassing sign of general cynicism with the leadership of Sissi, the military leader who had deposed democratically-elected Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi in 2013 in what has widely been described as a coup. In another embarrassing twist, Sissi's only official competition, Hamdeen Sabahi, got only 4 percent of the vote: Less than the total number of "voided ballots." The link between these two post-Arab Spring elections hasn't been lost on observers: Rather embarrassing for #Sisi, incidentally, to 'win' even more votes than #Assad— Alex Rowell (@disgraceofgod) June 4, 2014 Rather embarrassing for #Sisi, incidentally, to 'win' even more votes than #Assad I was worried that Assad and El-Sisi will not make it but they surprised me with 97% and 88% of the votes!!— Emz (@emmasuleiman) June 4, 2014 I was worried that Assad and El-Sisi will not make it but they surprised me with 97% and 88% of the votes!! Gosh, President Assad is popular, but not as popular as President Sisi #naivetweets— jamie k (@jkbloodtreasure) June 4, 2014 Gosh, President Assad is popular, but not as popular as President Sisi #naivetweets In second place was Sisi with 86%. RT @edwardedark: Official results in Syria election is Assad wins with 88.7%— Tom Gara (@tomgara) June 4, 2014 In second place was Sisi with 86%. RT @edwardedark: Official results in Syria election is Assad wins with 88.7% Both election results seem farcical, but its important to note that their may be some truth to the numbers too. Even if Egypt's not totally representative or inflated, there are no doubt plenty of people in Egypt who want a strong, secular leader like Sissi. And in Syria's case, Assad still has significant support, even among Syria's Sunni majority. |