Assad came to power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafiz. His father came to power in 1970 through a bloodless military coup.
Syrian President Bashar Assad (AFP)
Syrian President Bashar Assad has become the President of Syria for the fourth time. He took the oath of office on Saturday. The election held in May in this war-torn country was termed illegal and mere sham by Western countries and Assad’s opponents. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Presidential Palace and was attended by religious leaders, members of parliament, politicians and army officers.
Assad has been in power in this country since 2000 and his becoming president once again was not at all in doubt. His new term is starting once again, but the country is devastated by the war of the last 10 years and the economic crisis is getting deeper day by day. According to the United Nations, more than 80 percent of Syria’s population is below the poverty line.
half the population displaced
The Syrian currency has steadily declined in value and resources have become scarce and people are charged high prices for goods. The conflict in the country has largely subsided, but many parts of Syria are still not under government control. There is still deployment of foreign forces and militias in different parts of the country.
About half of the pre-war population in Syria have either suffered displacement or are living as refugees in neighboring countries and Europe. At the same time, five lakh people have died in this war so far and thousands of people are still missing and the infrastructure of the country is destroyed. This struggle started in 2011. The government cracked down on the peaceful demonstrators, and then this protest turned into an armed rebellion against the Assad family.
Western countries consider Assad responsible for violence
In this war, Assad received the support of Iran and Russia, which along with providing aid, also sent its troops here, and in such a situation, even after the sanctions imposed from Western countries, Assad remained in the government. The governments of European countries and the United States blame Assad and his allies for the violence, while Assad blames armed rebels for it. At the same time, no significant progress has been made so far in the United Nations-led talks to end this war.
Assad came to power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafiz. His father came to power in 1970 through a bloodless military coup. Officials in the US and Europe question the legitimacy of this election. Assad got 95.1% of the votes in this election. Any kind of competition in elections here was only symbolic. There was no independent body to monitor voting.
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