Syria's Bashar Al Assad takes oath for a fourth term

Reuters

Damascus - Assad took 95 per cent of the votes in the elections.

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By AFP

Published: Sat 17 Jul 2021, 2:56 PM

President Bashar Al Assad took the oath of office for a fourth term in war-ravaged Syria Saturday, after taking 95 per cent of the vote in a controversial election.

Assad was sworn in the presence of more than 600 guests, including ministers, businessmen, academics and journalists, organisers said.

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The elections "have proven the strength of popular legitimacy that the people have conferred to the state," 55-year-old Assad said, in his inauguration speech.

The vote extending Assad's grip on power was the second since the start of a decade-long civil war that has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure.

With his campaign slogan, "Hope through work", Assad cast himself as the sole architect of a reconstruction phase for the troubled country.

AFP

Published: Sat 17 Jul 2021, 2:56 PM

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