Syrian opposition urges election boycott

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press – 27 minutes ago

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition leaders on Sunday dismissed upcoming parliamentary elections as a cynical attempt by President Bashar Assad to hold on to power and urged voters to stay away.

The regime has portrayed Monday's vote as a sign of its willingness to carry out reforms, while at the same time denying that it faces a popular uprising. In new violence, regime forces fired tank-mounted machine guns at two neighborhoods before dawn in the eastern town of Deir el-Zour, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. No casualties were immediately reported.

The election of a 250-seat parliament comes three months after the adoption of a new constitution that allows the formation of political parties to compete with the ruling Baath party.

Assad's opponents say reforms without their input are a farce and elections cannot be held under the threat of guns. A U.N.-brokered truce last month has failed to halt a brutal regime crackdown on the 14-month-old uprising against Assad despite the presence of foreign observers sent to monitor compliance.


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jcj2uIubKa2p01uzk1nptrnCBzLA?docId=8d7f3c4d849a45c58f2916376878469e

[may3rd]

1. typical

They know their minority is so small that they will be buried at the polls and the election violence that plagued Iraq across the border will be the only sway they get in making a showing at the polls
jmo