Badr Jamous, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, said that “the regime’s bullying of some Syrian expatriates into voting in the farcical elections is blatant political blackmail and violates all international norms. Jamous also slams the intimidation campaign practiced by Assad’s allies in Lebanon who threatened the Syrian refugees of passing their names to the security offices at the Syrian Embassy in Beirut and at the border crossings in case they didn’t vote.” Activists said that Assad’s allies in Lebanon seized the identity cards of Syrian refugees to force them to go to the Syrian embassy to restore them thus forcing them to vote in the elections. Jamous expresses concern about reports aired by some Lebanese channels that Hezbollah bullied some Syrian refugees into going to the Syrian embassy to cast their votes. “Bashar al Assad continues to try and convince the world of his popularity among displaced Syrians by the same methods he and his father used to hold on to the presidency for more than 40 years. The strong-arm manipulative tactics the regime has always used continue to cross Syria’s borders as his allies in Lebanon bully Syrians to cast votes for him even as other countries refuse to allow voting as the election is illegal according to the Geneva I protocol. The Lebanese government allowed ballots to be cast at the Syrian Embassy in Beirut under the watchful eyes of Assad’s supporters. The Assad propaganda machine would like us all to believe that displaced Syrians and expatriates showed up in great numbers to support him but coerced support is not any more legitimate than his presidency. In a nutshell, these are not real elections, but they are an extension of Assad’s barbaric campaign against the Syrian people and a tactical move to reproduce his regime that has so far failed to suppress the will of the Syrian people.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
