Syria will decide within 12 days a final list of candidates for presidential polls next month, a government minister said on Thursday, setting the stage for an event all but certain to reinstate President Bashar al-Assad for a fourth term.
Minister of Information Imad Sarah told reporters the constitutional court would look into the eligibility of 51 candidates, including Assad, for the May 26 vote.
Assad has ruled since 2000, succeeding his father who had seized power in a 1970 coup. Syria has suffered civil war since 2011, although Assad's government has captured most territory once held by rebels trying to topple him.