Khalid Saleh, President of the Media Office, condemns a statement made by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Assad regime who said that “Assad’s running for the presidential elections is a guarantee for security and stability of Syria.” Saleh said that this statement proves that the Assad regime is detached from reality and demonstrates the uttermost disregard for the blood of more than 150,000 Syrians. The fall of the Assad regime is the sole guarantor to the security and stability not only in Syria but the whole region, as Assad threatened to set the regime ablaze if the Syrian people insisted in ousting him.” Furthermore, Saleh points out that the latest election laws adopted by the so-called People’s Assembly two days ago are illegitimate as they were drafted by an illegitimate body, who chose to be an accomplice in the bloodshed in Syria rather than siding with the legitimate demands of the Syrian people. Saleh also stresses that the Syrian Coalition “strongly rejects participation of opposition members as candidates against Assad in the presidential elections, as this would imply recognition by us of the legitimacy of his presence in the elections. Assad’s insistence on clinging to power at the expense of the blood of the Syrian people undermines the international efforts at Geneva II and proves his outright rejection of the political solution.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)