2007 Syrian presidential election

Syrian Presidential Election, 2007

May 27, 2007 (2007-05-27)

Nominee Bashar al-Assad Party Ba'ath Party Popular vote 11,199,445 Percentage 97.62%

President before election Bashar al-Assad Ba'ath Party Elected President Bashar al-Assad Ba'ath Party

A referendum to confirm the presidential candidate Bashar al-Assad was held in Syria on 27 May 2007, after the People's Council of Syria voted to propose the incumbent for a second term on 10 May 2007.

Electoral system

According to the Syrian Constitution, the Arab Socialist Ba'at Party of Syria is the leader of the state and society and thus, the President should be a member of the party. The National Progressive Front, a political coalition led by the Ba'ath Party, nominated a candidate in the People's Council. The candidate had to be approved by at least two-thirds of MPs to proceed to the referendum, in which a candidate had to received at least 50% of the vote.

Results

Choice	Votes	%
For	11,199,445	99.82
Against	19,653	0.18
Invalid/blank votes	253,059	–
Total	11,472,157	100
Registered voters/turnout	11,967,611	95.86
Source: IFES

Reactions

Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed claimed "This great consensus shows the political maturity of Syria and the brilliance of our democracy", while the ministry described voter turnout as "enormous".