Under the scorching sun and the gaze of massively deployed Lebanese police and soldiers, Syrians traveled long distances, Thursday, May 20, to vote at their embassy, on the occasion of the presidential ballot organized in advance abroad. It will be held on May 26 in Syria, and no surprises are expected: Bashar Al-Assad will be re-elected to the presidency, as at every deadline since his accession to power in 2000. What do the ten years of war matter? massive destruction, millions of Syrians exiled or internally displaced.
The scenes seen at the entrance to the embassy, located in Yarzé, an upscale suburb in eastern Beirut, were expected: men or women holding up the portrait of Bashar Al-Assad. Children with faces painted with the Syrian flag. Slogans of allegiance shouted at the top of the lungs by some groups.
Despite the continuous comings and goings, throughout the morning, the crowd represented only a small fraction of the million and a half Syrian “displaced” that Beirut says it welcomes on its soil. Many were poor Syrians, like most of the refugees and workers who live in Lebanon. Those questioned are unanimous: they voted “For the president”. No trace of a voice for its two front competitors, whose names are unknown.
Show that a new Constitution is unnecessary
Sevine, Kurdish of Aleppo, laconic: “Bashar is the strongest. “ Imad, worker from the Aleppo region, concise and flattering: “I like the president. ” Ammar, a native mason of Idlib, on fire: “Bashar protects what remains of Syria. ” Apart from Imad, who travels back and forth to Aleppo, none has set foot in Syria since settling in Lebanon. Sign of the little connection with the diplomatic representation, feared by many refugees, Syrians went there for the first time on Thursday, such as Hameda, mother of a family: she did not register her children there, all born in Lebanon and without official papers.
“Everyone knows that elections are a farce. There is a minority that still supports power. But the vast majority of Syrians do not want this camp or the current opposition, judge a former senior Syrian official. The purpose of the ballot is twofold: to say that the authorities keep the reins of the country and that Damascus respects the constitutional functioning, in other words, that a new Constitution [qui selon l’ONU devait précéder la présidentielle] is unnecessary. The Russians, too, insisted on holding this ballot. “
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