As the Assad regime considers all opposition forces in the country to be “terrorists”, not just the Islamic State, many interpreted this statement as a rejection of elections until all opposition is defeated, guaranteeing reelection for Assad. Since the beginning of the foreign-backed crisis in Syria in March 2011, an assortment of militant groups, including the Daesh Takfiri terrorists and the US-backed Free Syrian Army, have been formed in the country with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the Syrian government.
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“The settlement of the Syrian political situation necessarily requires a dialogue with the Syrian president who is in place and is elected by the Syrian people”, AFP quoted visiting French MP Jean-Frederic Poisson as saying after a meeting with Syrian Parliament Speaker Jihad al-Lahham on Wednesday.
In the peaceful gardens of academia, far from the Syrian battlefield, I hear increasingly an extraordinary formula for bringing a halt to the wreckage that has wreaked on Syria: keep Bashar al-Assad in power and, if need be, collaborate with the Russians to bring about this end.
Their trip comes despite fierce criticism in France of a similar visit by lawmakers to Syria in February.
A Russian lawmaker said Assad had told the delegation he was willing to hold new parliamentary and presidential elections and would run again as president.
During a telephone dialog together with his Rusissan counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Fabius stated the proposal can be on the desk of the Security Council “quickly”, with out giving additional particulars, Xinhua information company reported.
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According to the diplomatic source, the foreign ministers of Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and United Kingdom may also attend the meeting. Assad visited Moscow on October 21 and was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s top policy makers. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will also be present.
