SYRIA: President Bashar al-Assad's government announces that voters have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a referendum derided as a sham by his critics

Record ID: 280318

  • Title: SYRIA: President Bashar al-Assad's government announces that voters have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a referendum derided as a sham by his critics
  • Date: 28th February 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (FEBRUARY 27, 2012) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MEDIA GATHERED FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM AL-SHAAR, SYRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, TALKING JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM AL-SHAAR, SYRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, SAYING: "The number of people who agreed on the new constitution is 7,490,319 voters, which means 89.
  • Embargoed: 14th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA66BQH9G1SAD4K1GI0M9ENEKQ3
  • Story Text: Nearly 90 percent of Syrians approved a new constitution proposed by President Bashar al-Assad, Syria's Interior Minister said on Monday (February 27, 2012).
    Announcing the results of the poll, which took place on Sunday, Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar said the reformed constitution, which could keep Assad in power until 2028, had received 89.4 percent approval from more than eight million voters.
    "The number of people who agreed on the new constitution is 7,490,319 voters, which means 89.4% of the total number of voters. Fourthly, the number of people who disagreed is 753,208. That is 9% of the total number of voters. Fifthly, the number of papers that were invalid is 132,920 papers. That is 1.6%," the interior minister said.
    Constitutional reforms are aimed at quelling the growing rebellion against the Assad family's 42 years in power and Assad says the new constitution will lead to multi-party elections within three months.
    But Assad's opponents and the West have dismissed Sunday's vote as a farce, conducted in the midst of the country's bloodiest turmoil in decades.
    As the results were being announced, Syrian artillery pounded rebel-held areas of Homs on Monday - an area where al-Shaar said voting had been disrupted.
    "In provinces known as 'hot provinces' such as Homs, in some areas or some neighbourhoods, armed groups prevented people from getting to polling stations. But other neighbourhoods witnessed a lot of people heading to polling stations, and people voted there normally and without any barriers," he said.
    Officials put national voter turnout at close to 60 percent, but diplomats who toured polling stations in Damascus saw only a handful of voters at each location.
    On the same day, at least 59 people were killed in violence around the country.
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