According to the official results of the elections in Syria, Bashar al-Assad has been elected president of the war-torn country for the fourth time. However, Western countries said that the elections were not free and fair.
The controversial vote has strengthened Bashar al-Assad's grip on power for the second time in a decade-long civil war, which has killed more than 388,000 people, left millions homeless and displaced. Infrastructure is in a state of disrepair.
The parliamentary speaker announced the results, according to which Bashar al-Assad won with 95.1% of the vote.
His opponents were former Minister of State Abdullah Salom Abdullah and opposition member Mahmood Merhi.
On election day, Britain, the United States, France, Germany and Italy said the election was not transparent and free, and Syria's divided opposition called it a "joke."
However, some doubted that Bashar al-Assad, a 55-year-old ophthalmologist, would be re-elected.
He won 88% of the vote in the 2014 election, which was contested by several candidates.
Before the election results were announced, thousands of Syrians took to the streets of several cities, waving Syrian flags and carrying pictures of Bashar al-Assad.
According to local media, the celebrations began when the election committee announced that the counting of ballots had been completed in most of Syria's provinces.
According to the Syrian state news agency Sanaa, thousands of people gathered on the city's shores in Tartus province to celebrate Bashar al-Assad's victory.
One citizen told AFP that Bashar al-Assad had two messages of success: first, that one leader had won the war and would now lead the reconstruction, and second, to show foreigners that when the fighting was over, political Who will lead the discussion?
Elections were held in government-held areas on Wednesday, and state media showed long queues of people outside polling stations as polling continued for five hours.
Voting comes at a time when the war, which began in 2011, is at its lowest point but the economy is in shambles.
Eighty percent of Syria's population lives below the poverty line, and inflation is skyrocketing due to the low value of the Syrian pound against the dollar.
The slogan of Bashar al-Assad's election campaign was "hope through work" that the country needs massive reconstruction and billions of dollars in funding to rebuild.
Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, ruled Syria for 30 years, after whose death Bashar al-Assad was elected president in 2000 in a referendum.
The UN ambassador to Syria said the election did not take place in accordance with the political transition required under Security Council Resolution 2254.
He said what was needed was for the Syrian people to have their own political solution, with the United Nations facilitating and supporting international diplomacy.
On the other hand, in the rebel-held area where 3 million people live, people took to the streets to protest on election day.
