In the false voting conducted by the opposition and Western countries, it is widely expected that the president will win the fourth seven-year term with two rivals.

Voters in areas controlled by the Syrian government will go to polling stations to vote. The election will consolidate Bashar al-Assad’s fourth term, but has been mocked by the opposition and Western powers.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian uprising a decade ago, Wednesday’s presidential election is the second vote. This conflict caused hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of people were forced to leave the country. In 2014, Assad Won nearly 89% vote.

Al-Assad is seeking a fourth seven-year term for two opposition candidates approved by the government: former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Abdullah Salloum Abdullah ; The head of the National Democratic Front, Mahmoud Ahmad Marei, is a small opposition party recognized by the state. Forty-eight other presidential candidates have submitted candidate applications, but their applications have been rejected.

Assad voted in the Duma near the capital Damascus, which used to be a stronghold of rebel forces and a location where government forces suspected chemical weapons attacks in 2018.

Damascus student Layla* said that the polling station was crowded with voters all morning and many students were forced to vote. She told Al Jazeera: “If you don’t vote, some universities will fail or even expel you.”

“But it’s okay; we all know the result because these elections are just a show,” she said, adding that none of the three candidates represented her.

Assad’s allies Iran, Russia and Belarus sent delegations to monitor the elections.

At the same time, the foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement in which they described the polls as forgeries. The statement said: “In order to make the election credible, all Syrians should be allowed to participate, including internally displaced Syrians, refugees and diasporas,”

When registration for elections began last month, U.S. and French officials told Al Jazeera that The election is neither free nor fair There is no political solution in the long war.

The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), which controls northeastern Syria, criticized the Assad government for obstructing negotiations and meetings. It said in a statement: “We will not participate in the presidential election, nor will we participate.”

Like Western countries, SADC also requires the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which was passed unanimously at the end of 2015, and called for an end to hostilities and a political settlement of the Syrian conflict.

The resolution aims to pave the way for international supervision of elections after the constitutional amendment.

*Name change to protect the identity of the person