Thread by @_AhmedQuraishi

The breakdown in #Syria's presidential election:

Bashar 51%
Al Assad 49%

President #BasharAlAssad is in power for 21 years now. It will be 26 years if he completes the new term.

https://twitter.com/farid60633814/status/1398325415773679629

I still remember when he took oath in Parliament in #Damascus after his father's death in 2000. I was watching the ceremony on TV w/ a close Syrian friend, ex-army, served in Syrian military in #Lebanon. I was flabbergasted after his first live speech:

The new Syrian president spoke in perfect, incisive, articulate Arabic, without pauses. No teleprompter. Impeccable expression. He was the youngest Arab leader then (along Abdullah II of Jordan), a breath of fresh air (before Tamim, MBS, MBZ, Hariri, & Haitham).

Bashar Al Assad returned from London with fresh ideas, a different worldview than his father's, an airforce officer who seized power in a coup & lived in paranoia, fearing a counter coup. Bashar, a minority Alawite, married Asma from Syria's Sunni majority.

You could see the spark in his eyes in that first public speech, in 2000. Bashar Al Assad believed he could change Syria. He wanted strong ties with the West. Wasn't a socialist. Wasn't an uptight. And he probably was open to peace with Israel. But the Old Guard hit him smack in

the face. The Old Guard, his father's buddies, were corrupt but in control of the country. They played Bashar and drove Syria down a path of stagnation and unprecedented corruption in the past 21 years. Basically pushing Bashar and Syria into a deadend.

To sustain their wealth, corruption, and power, the Old Guard resisted peace even after Palestinians recognized Israel, and opened Syria to Iranian influence without check (even though his father kept the ayatollahs at bay while maintaining a strong alliance with them).

Come 2011 and the civil war, where Bashar gave in to hawks who used brutal, disproportionate, and excessive force to crush what initially were peaceful protests by Syrian civilians demanding better services and life.

Today, Bashar Al Assad had a chance to show his backers (like Russia) and his people that he changed. But instead of launching political reform, he wins 97% of the vote and becomes president again, leaving opponents to think there's only one way to bring change in Syria.