Syria to Hold Presidential Vote on May 26

DAMASCUS - Syria is to hold a presidential election on May 26, the parliament speaker announced Sunday, the country’s second in the shadow of civil war, seen as likely to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power.   

Syrians abroad will be “able to vote at embassies” on May 20, Hamouda Sabbagh said in a statement, adding that prospective candidates could hand in their applications from Monday.    Assad, who took power following the death of his father Hafez in 2000, has not yet officially announced that he will stand for re-election.    He won a previous election three years into Syria’s devastating civil war in 2014, with 88 percent of the vote.