TODAY’S MESOP SYRIA NEWS ROUND UP : April 28 ASSAD & THE LIST OF HIS FAKE CANDIDATES

Assad officially announces candidacy in June elections
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday morning 
officially announced his intention to stand for reelection in June 3 balloting, according to state news agency SANA. Assad’s declaration brings the total number of candidates to seven after four new candidates submitted their applicationsSunday.

The new candidates are Susan Hadad, an engineer from Syria’s northwestern Latakia province, Samir Ahmad al-Ma’ala, a professor of international law from Quneitra, Mohammad Firas Rajouh from Damascus and Abd a-Salam Yussuf Salama from Homs. Sunday’s announcements follow the nominations last week of two Syrian members of parliament, Maher Abdul al-Hafiz Hajjar and Hassan Abd al-Nouri, with incumbent President Bashar al-Assad yet to officially announce his candidacy.

Pro-Assad daily al-Watan cited the head of Syria’s Supreme Elections Committee declaration that “Syrians who left the country illegally have no right to cast their votes,” suggesting that Damascus will exclude a large portion of the roughly 2.5 million refugees who have fled Syria over the past three years. Western diplomats and Syrian oppositionists characterize the upcoming elections as a “parody” of democracy, with Assad having won his last two seven-year terms with over 97 percent of the vote.