Syrian lawmakers Wednesday voted for their preferred presidential candidate as nominations close ahead of next month’s polls, which are expected to return Bashar Assad for a fourth term.
Fifty-one Syrians, including seven women, had submitted their names before a constitutional deadline passed on Wednesday, the official SANA news agency said.
In order to run, they need to garner support from at least 35 members of the 250-seat parliament, which is dominated by Assad’s Baath party.