Praising Democracy

The Chairman of the Foreign Policy and National Security Committee at the Iranian Shura Council, Alaeddin Boroujerdi (C) chairs a meeting of parliament members, independent activists and civil organizations societies invited to observe the Syrian presidential election on June 4, 2014 in Damascus. AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA

"[The Syrian elections effectively assure] Assad's legitimacy and mean[t] he could not be removed in a military operation. I am sure that the elections that happened in Syria were done according to all the principles of democracy and international law."
"It's impossible ... to remove any legitimate leader elected by the people in a military manoeuvre."
Russian Senator Alexey Alexandrov

"These elections in Syria pave the way for a new stage of stability and national agreement in this country after more than three years of war imposed by foreign parties."
"In addition, we hope that it will pave the way for the return of the displaced and the Syrian refugees to their home, and to start the stage of building this country by the Syrian people and their government."
Statement: Delegation of international observers at Syria's 4 June election

Well thank heavens, the people have spoken. Their enthusiasm for their dauntless leader knows no bounds. They are overjoyed to link their futures with his wise counsel and unerring leadership. So moved are some, that they voted with their very blood. So devoted were others that they wound themselves in the Syrian flag lest any doubt their patriotism. And the deed is done! The only question that remains is this bit of theatre representative of a flagrant mocking of perceived U.S. sanctimony?

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad returned by acclamation! Oh yes, he did face challenges to his presidency, for two among the millions who cast their vote for this remarkable legislator did express the raw effrontery to run against him. Their rejection will no doubt chasten them for their hubris. On the other hand, if that doesn't do it, arrest, torture and decades of confinement until death will most certainly teach them a modicum of humility. (Oh, you mean they were there for effect?!)

Syria, whose population was almost twenty-million-strong, has become less than ten-million-weak. Its majority Sunni population is in dire straits; those, that is, who have survived their government's chemical, barrel bomb and helicopter gunship chastening attacks on their once-thriving neighbourhoods. The minority Shia population's welfare is much more robust and it is they, needless to say, who have voted their president back into celebrated power.

The millions of Sunni refugees displaced both internally and externally -- huddled in refugee camps, living their miserable existence in a manner which Antonio Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights considers representative of the worst humanitarian disaster since the cold war's ending -- really enjoy the world's attention. He laments that 6.8-million Syrians require aid, a figure likely to reach at least ten million.

"I don't remember any other crisis where we are having 8,000 per day [fleeing across borders], every day since February. There will very likely be 3.5 million by the end of the year. We will have half the population of Syria in dire need of assistance and this is incomprehensible."

That's what they get for backing the wrong horse; bucked off. Not to worry, now. The tide has turned. All will be well. Democracy has had its day in Syria. Rejoice all! And they do ... not all, mind, but those who matter, Syrian Alawites, perhaps Christians among them, and others who feel themselves to be safer under President Al-Assad than the prospective alternative, the terrorists whom he warned all and sundry were on the cusp of overtaking the rule of law and democracy in Syria.

And so, the international delegation led by ... surprise! ... allies of President Al-Assad, stated the assurance that this election paves the way forward to "stability and national agreement". The delegation, comprised of officials from over 30 countries no less, including legislators and dignitaries from Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, to name but a few, did the obligatory due diligence, touring polling stations during Syria's first multi-candidate presidential election in over four decades.

Those perennial spoilsports, the United States, Canada and the European Union have predictably rejected the vote as ... guess what? ... undemocratic. Not even a murmur of admiration for a country bravely calling an election in mid-civil-war crisis. Polling stations and permission to participate in the vote were restricted to government-controlled areas of the country, and excluded permission for Sunni Syrian refugees to take part. Why should they? Who do they think they are, in any event?

The final statement of the delegation, read by Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's Committee on National Security cast blame on the United States and its allies for "crimes committed against the Syrian people ... These elections have happened in its constitutional time and date in a transparent, democratic way", he stated with aplomb and confidence. Lest anyone experience problems deciphering the statement, printed in both Arabic and English.


What? No Chinese scrutineers in the delegation? What an oversight, since it has been China and Russia both who have four times vetoed United Nations Security Council sanctions on Damascus. Understandable, needless to say, because those sanctions were so unfair, singling out the regime for blame in the slaughter of over 160,000 Syrians. Papa Hafez would be so proud.

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  A man holds a portrait of President Bashar Assad and a national flag at a polling station in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, June 3, 2014. Polls opened in government-held areas in Syria amid very tight security Tuesday for the country's presidential election, a vote that President Bashar Assad is widely expected to win. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)The Associated Press