Syria's Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem said that the massive turnout for the landmark presidential election imposes a reality that no one can ignore, demonstrating the defeat of US and its allies and that the end of the three-year conflict in his country "begins today". (Photo: SANA/thesantosrepublic.com)

by Lady Michelle-Jennifer Santos, Chief Visionary Founder & Owner

June 3, 2014 (TSR) –  Syria‘s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem on Tuesday said that the massive turnout for the landmark presidential election imposes an unavoidable reality that no one can ignore, demonstrating the defeat of US and its allies and that the end of the three-year conflict in his country “begins today”.

 

“The aggressive states (US and allies) demonstrated that they failed and are stuck at an impasse. No one can impose his will on the Syrian people. Today, Syria begins to take the route of a political solution,” Al-Moallem said in a statement as he cast his vote for the presidential election at the Cabinet election center on Tuesday.

Syria's Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem said that the massive turnout for the landmark presidential election imposes a reality that no one can ignore, demonstrating the defeat of US and its allies and that the end of the three-year conflict in his country "begins today". (Photo: SANA/thesantosrepublic.com)
Syria’s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem said that the massive turnout for the landmark presidential election imposes a reality that no one can ignore, demonstrating the defeat of US and its allies and that the end of the three-year conflict in his country “begins today”. (Photo: SANA/thesantosrepublic.com)

The deputy prime minister’s remarks come as millions of Syrians are casting their ballots to choose a president for the next seven years, amid tight security.

 “No one grants legitimacy except the Syrian people,” Al-Moallem hailing the Syrian people’s historic massive turnout, according the Syrian state media, SANA.

Al-Moallem said  the will of the Syrian people through voting will impose an unavoidable reality that no one can ignore.

“The Syrians register today their free will in democratic, transparent elections to elect who will lead them in the future. Today the Syrian nation will decide who they want and only the Syrian nation can legitimize the next leader,” al-Moallem added.

Al-Muallema says a political solution for the ongoing conflict in his country “begins today”.

“Today, Syria begins to take the route of a political solution,” he said.

“Syria begins today to return to rebuilding, making national reconciliation and go ahead in the political solution track to solve the crisis”, he declared.

Meanwhile, in an interview on al-Mayadeen TV Tuesday, al-Moallem also stated that the majority of the Syrians want security to be restored and terrorism to be eradicated and want to accomplish the national reconciliation processes.

“As for the stances of the West, I want to ask what is democracy, isn’t the governing of the people by the people through ballots, is that not what the Syrians are exactly practicing?” he pointed out.

When asked about the number of voters that are allowed to vote in and outside the country, the deputy prime minister said that no one can give accurate number in this regard as there are Syrians inside the country, abroad forced to stay in refugees’ camps in neighboring countries and expatriates.

Al-Moallem said that Syria had called a group of MPs in addition to journalists to observe the voting process for transparency, adding that the Syrians who are voting in Aleppo, Homs, Lebanese-Syrian borders under shells and threats are the real naturalized Syrians.

Moreover, he said that the hot zones do not contain electoral centers but the majority of the residents of these areas have gone to participate in voting in safe areas.

Al-Moallem stressed that the Syrians are adherent to the unity of their country and that terrorism phenomenon embodied by “The Islamic State in Iraq and Sham”, “Jabhet al-Nusra” and the “Islamic Front” are temporal phenomena that do not reflect the will of the Syrian people.

Regarding a meeting that has taken place recently in Turkey and whether there is coordination with Syria regarding fighting terrorism, al-Moallem responded, “We know there are operation rooms to support and abet terrorists in Turkey and we have not felt a will nor a desire of the UN and its organizations to counter terrorism.”

Over 15 million Syrians are eligible to vote in more than 9000 stations across the government-controlled areas of the country.

Election officials in the capital Damascus have described the voter turnout as great.

Incumbent President Bashar al-Assad, parliament member Maher al-Hajjar and businessman Hassan al-Nouri are competing for the top post. All the three candidates have already cast their ballots.

Syrians believe the election will help restore security in the country gripped by more than three years of foreign-backed militancy and terrorism.

Syria sank into war in March 2011 when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

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